KTR mocks 'dynastic Congress' for family rule accusations against BRS

HYDERABAD: Telangana Industries Minister and BRS Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) categorically denied allegations of nepotism and large-scale corruption by the BRS government under K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in Telangana.

In an interview to TV9 Managing Editor Rajinikanth on Tuesday, KTR said that the Congress which was ruled by the Nehru lineage, and Sonia Gandhi an Italian by birth, had no right to question the BRS about the family rule. “If the voters of Sircilla decide to defeat me, they will. In a democracy, one cannot force their family members on the voters. If the leaders are not efficient, voters might tolerate once but not every time,” he said. He said that he would contest from Sircilla again in the ensuing elections.

Coming to BJP’s frequent attack on BRS in the name of KCR’s family rule, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the worst and most inefficient of all the Prime Ministers that ruled the country. “What action that he had taken on his good friend Adani, despite the Hindenburg revelations,” KTR retorted.

Answering a question of the intentions of the government in abolishing GO 111, KTR said that all the major political parties in the state including BRS promised the abolition of the said GO and prominently mentioned that in the party manifestoes. He pointed out that several prominent leaders of the opposition parties, who had properties covered under GO 111, were crying wolf blaming the BRS of connivance with the realtors.

Calling the demand for a ban on the Dharani portal by the Congress and the BJP, as intellectual bankruptcy, KTR wondered how a system, that facilitated same-day registration and mutation, could do harm to the common man. “No one including the Chief Minister or the Chief Secretary can tamper with the Dharani registration process. This large-scale corruption by BRS functionaries through Dharani is a figment of their imagination,” KTR clarified.

When asked about the allegation by TPCC Chief A Revanth Reddy that he was a drug addict, KTR dismissed it as loose-talk and retorted, questioning whether Revanth Reddy would tolerate if he was called a womaniser. “But I even tolerated when they body-shamed my son when he was slightly obese at one time,” KTR said.

Elaborating on the issue of corruption in Neellu-Nidhulu-Niyamakalu on the basis of which separate Telangana agitation was built, KTR said that Mission Bhagiratha, Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, the highest per capita income in the country and creation of 2,20,000 jobs by the BRS government would be his answer to his detractors.

On the issue of the BRS admitting leaders from other political parties, a few who never fought for Telangana, the BRS Working President referred to the statement of KCR in 2014 that the party would behave like any other political outfit as its role as an agitational party was over.

When asked why the Telangana Government had many IAS and IPS officers drawn particularly from Bihar, KTR replied that allocation of all India services was done by the Centre and as such there were very few Telugu officers available to choose from. “These officers are from other states and not from Italy or Sri Lanka,” he said. It was farcical for leaders of a party that imported its president from Italy to talk about this issue, he commented.