Harish Rao accuses Congress of hoodwinking Telangana with Karnataka’s failed model

HYDERABAD: Telangana Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao has accused the Congress of hoodwinking the people of Karnataka with five guarantees and critcised its efforts to replicate the same in Telangana to deceive the people.

Speaking to media at Telangana Bhavan here on Friday, Harish Rao said that by November 20, 2023, the Congress would complete its six months rule in Karnataka. There was no sign for the implementation of new schemes, apart from scrapping the old schemes. Be it farmers, ration card beneficiaries or students, all of them were deceived by the Congress, he said and added that free transportation for women in KSRTC buses was nominal.

Highlighting the failures of the Congress in Karnataka, Harish Rao said that the neighbouring State’s coffers had dried up because of which no funds were allocated for development projects. “Schemes like Shakthi, Gruha Laskhmi, Anna Bhagya and Gruha Jyothi are not being implemented due to paucity of funds. People who believed that the Congress will implement five guarantees in Karnataka are now in distress. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi who campaigned and assured the people in Karnataka are now staying away from the people. If people believe the Delhi parties, the same will be repeated in Telangana,” he said.

Referring to the raw deal meted out to the students in Karnataka, the Telangana Finance Minister said that the Congress had reduced the scholarship amount for the students by 80-85 per cent with unavailability of funds. For instance, scholarship for MBBS students was decreased to Rs from Rs 60,000 to Rs 11,000, for PG students from Rs 35,000 to Rs 10,000. With this, a huge burden was imposed on the parents whose children were pursuing engineering, medicine and masters, he said and added that people of Telangana and youth should think about the situations in Karnataka under the Congress rule and take a call about their future in the coming elections.

Harish Rao said that Karnataka deputy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar himself stated that there were no funds to recarpet the damaged roads and moreover an ultimatum was issued for the MLAs not to approach the Government for funds. “As many as 11 MLAs wrote a letter to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah highlighting their inefficiency to face the people in their constituencies. The situation is so pathetic that several MLAs are not in a situation to leave for their respective constituencies from Bengaluru,” he said. Because of the MLAs’ inefficiency to address the plight of the people, dissatisfaction was peak among them, he added.

Taking potshots at the Congress rule in Karnataka, Harish Rao said that the Congress leaders in the neighbouring State did not have command on the final sector which exposed their failures in implementation of the manifesto and their vision in creating revenue. He alleged that Karnataka went bankrupt under the Congress rule. “It is high time for the people in Telangana to think whether they want ‘Velugula Deepavali’ or ‘Diwala Karnataka’? People in Karnataka are reeling under severe crisis due to lack of welfare, development, power supply for agriculture and industries,” he said.

Harish Rao said that as many as 357 farmers committed suicides in the last six months during the Congress rule in Karnataka. In Telangana, suicides by farmers had come to almost nil due to pro-farm policies of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and they were proudly claiming their profession. In Karnataka, Ryhtu Bandhu was stopped by the Congress and the earlier Government had given a meager Rs 4,000 to farmers. Apart from that the power supply was also reduced to four to five hours from seven hours. With this drought was prevailing and farmer suicides were increasing in Karnataka, he said.

The Telangana Finance Minister said, “The Congress will ask for ‘One Chance' during elections and after coming to power will say ‘Excuse Me’. Farmers, SC, ST, BC are the main victims under the Congress rule in Karnataka. If the Congress is so committed, why it failed to implement the five guarantees in Karnataka. The intention of the BRS party is to avoid such situations in Telangana.” Referring to the job calendar in Karnataka, he said that Rahul Gandhi provoked the youth with a job calendar to provide two lakh jobs soon after coming to power. Not even a single job notification was given in Karnataka in the last six months and diluted the Yuva Shakti scheme, he added.

Countering the notion that Telangana lagged in providing employment in the Government sector, Harish Rao said, “Since the formation of Telangana, the BRS Government has embarked on filling 2.20 lakh vacancies. Out of these, 1.32 lakh vacancies have been filled, amounting to 13,000 jobs each year. Measures are being taken to fill up 80,000 odd jobs at the earliest.” Apart from that, over 24 lakh jobs were given in the private sector and six lakh jobs in the IT sector, he added.

“Rahul Gandhi is coming to Telangana with Karnataka's failure model. How will people believe him? People of Telangana are not ready to accept the failure model of Karnataka. Rahul Gandhi should tender an open apology for the Karnataka people for their failure in implementing the five guarantees,” Harish Rao said.