Telangana has highest budget for minorities in India: KTR

HYDERABAD: The Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP) is attempting to disrupt the Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb in Telangana, said KT Rama Rao, at a Muslim Committee meeting in Jalavihar on Monday.

KTR welcomed Telangana Congress minorities cell chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail into the BRS party with a pink scarf, saying Shaik Sohail, who had worked in the Congress party for 35 years, was unhappy with TPCC president Revanth Reddy and said an RSS agent was given the responsibility of Gandhi Bhavan.

The BRS working president said, "We can all see that the majority of Muslims live in Uttar Pradesh with 4 crore population and their minority budget is Rs. 1,700 crore, next West Bengal with 2.5 crore population and their minority budget is Rs. 2,100 crore, 1.40 crore population with Rs. 670 crore in Maharashtra State, Karnataka with 90 lakh Muslims and their minority budget is Rs. 2,000 crore. Despite having only 50 lakh minority residents, Telangana has the highest minority welfare budget in the state at Rs. 2,200 crore, making it the only state with the highest budget for minorities.

"Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar has allocated Rs. 12,000 crore for minority development, including Rs. 700 crore for Muslim children, establishing Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS) with 204 schools and one lakh students across Telangana, " said KTR.

“Minorities are being used by the Congress for votes,” said KTR. He appealed to the people to support a leader like KCR who allocated the highest budget for minority welfare, set up educational institutions for the minorities, and worked for the welfare of all without seeing one’s religion, region, and caste.

The Congress party in Telangana claims the BRS is the B-team of the BJP, despite its alliance with the Shivasena party in Maharashtra, which claims to be a hardcore Hindu party and anti-muslim party, he added.

KTR said, "Telangana has become a role model in the country for its Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb. We are all aware of how Hindus and Muslims in Hyderabad collaborated to avoid clashes during the Ganesh Immersion and Milad-un-Nabi processions. Muslims voluntarily postponed Milad-un-Nabi processions so that Ganesh immersion could take place peacefully, demonstrating Telangana's secularism.

Highlighting the inclusive and secular nature of BRS, KTR said that Chief Minister KCR does not show discrimination on the grounds of region, religion, and caste. He added that the Hindus, Christians, and Muslims were given gifts by the Telangana government for Dusserah, Ramzan, and Christmas.

"It's been nine and a half years, but Telangana Chief Minister KCR has never done any religion-based politics or asked for votes based on religion because for him, everyone is the same, and he promotes Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb. I also don't recall any curfews being imposed in Telangana in the last nine and a half years, whereas I vividly recall curfews during every festival during my childhood," KTR added.

Taking a dig at the Congress party, KTR said that the first government in India in 1952 under Nehru was formed with the support of RSS leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who was also made a Cabinet Member. He also added that Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi also were supported by the RSS during their terms.

The Congress party in Karnataka made several promises, including banning Bajrang Dal before elections, but failed to implement their post-election, which proved that they lied for votes and power, said KT Rama Rao.

KTR said that there was no other leader who values secularism like KCR. He appealed to the people to vote for BRS and make KCR a hat-trick Chief Minister.