The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has welcomed the issuance of municipal elections’ schedule by the State Election Commission and requested the body to conduct a free and fair election process by preventing possible misuse of power by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The BJP would go it alone in the elections.
State president of BJP K. Laxman expressed apprehensions over the possible misuse of power by TRS in spite the election code coming into force the very moment when the schedule was released on Monday.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he has alleged that there were several instances of TRS leaders showing gross disrespect to the Constitution and democratic norms by misusing power brazenly.
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Stating that BJP was ready to face the municipal elections, Mr. Laxman said they would expose the government failures in developing basic infrastructure and providing basic amenities to people in the urban areas during the past five years.
He alleged that the State government had incapacitated the urban local bodies with gross discrimination in terms of allocation and release of funds.
“Whatever little development is visible in municipalities is due to funds released by the Centre and the State government has done nothing even amounting to its inability to pay salaries to employees in time,” Mr. Laxman said.
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While Swachh Bharat programme of the Centre had helped maintain cleanliness in municipalities, another Central scheme Ujjwala had provided cooking gas connections to women of poor families, he noted.
Further, construction of toilets, construction of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana, Jan Dhan and other schemes of the Centre had helped the poor in different ways, Mr. Laxman stated. However, the gross neglect of municipalities by the State government had resulted in the spread of dengue, swine flu, viral fever and other diseases.
Stating that the poor condition of roads was a reflection of the State government’s neglect of municipalities, the BJP State president said they were of the firm belief that people would recognise the party as an able alternative to TRS in Telangana and the party would contest the elections alone, without any alliance. They were confident of making big impact and making big inroads in the State.