'Rahul Gandhi paper tiger not Babbar Sher': BRS MLC Kavitha

JAGTIAL: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Saturday continued to train guns at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and termed him as a ‘paper tiger’ not a ‘Babbar Sher’. "The Wayanad MP reads out whatever anybody gives to him on paper.He does not understand the local political situation," she said.

Speaking to media at Metpally in Jagtial district on Saturday, Kavitha alleged that Rahul Gandhi's family had a treacherous connection with Telangana. "The Congress has a history of killing as many as 369 people who fought for Telangana in 1969. Rahul Gandhi's father Rajiv Gandhi insulted T Anjaiah who was the Chief Minister of Telangana. How can the Gandhi family claim that it has had a relationship with Telangana since Jawaharlal Nehru’s regime?" asked Kavitha.

The BRS MLC said it was Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) who agitated in 2009 for Telangana by going on an indefinite strike and almost achieved the goal for a separate Telangana State. But it was the Congress which put the issue in cold storage following the backlash in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra region and the opportunistic politics of Sonia Gandhi was the root cause of the deaths of hundreds of youth in Telangana, she said, and added that Telangana was achieved due to people’s movement.

Kavitha pointed out that even after that, Rahul Gandhi did not speak a single word of cooperation in the Parliament for Telangana. "He is not ‘Rahul Gandhi’ but ‘Election Gandhi’ and with elections approaching nearer, the Congress MP is talking about his relationship with Telangana for votes and his political mileage.

“Where is Rahul Gandhi, when Telangana fought for the inclusion of seven mandals from Andhra Pradesh, for the High Court during the Parliament sessions, implementation of bifurcation promises? Why didn’t he question the BJP for not implementing the promises to Telangana and giving a national status to Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project,” Kavitha said.

The BRS MLC said that instead of visiting a dosa shop, Rahul Gandhi should meet the family members of those who lost their lives during the Telangana movement. Slamming Sonia Gandhi for not speaking about the rights of Telangana, she said that in Parliament, Sonia Gandhi talked about the rights of Andhra Pradesh but did not talk about the rights of Telangana.

Kavitha pointed out that when Narendra Modi insulted Telangana in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi did not object even if they were in the House. People should think whether they want Rahul Gandhi who had done nothing for Telangana, or KCR who fought for the rights of Telangana people and for their holistic development, she added.

Taking a jibe at Congress MLC Jeevan Reddy, Kavitha said that Jeevan Reddy should maintain some dignity and refrain himself from making hasty comments about playing Bathukamma by placing liquor bottles and terming her as a ‘liquor queen’. On the Nizam Sugar factory, she said that the sugar factory was not built by the Congress, but rather by the Nizam in 1937.

“Why didn’t the Congress prevent its privatisation? In 2015, the BRS Government released a GO for reopening the Nizam Sugar factory. It is the BJP which created obstacles in reopening the factory,” Kavitha said, and added that the matter is currently under the purview of the courts.