Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday predicted that there would be a divorce between the Congress and Telugu Desam Party soon after election as the alliance itself was ‘unholy’. Addressing election meetings in three places in his whirlwind tour of the state on Friday he blamed the lack of political will for poor development in the State.
Addressing a well-attended public meeting at Nazrulnagar in Sirpur Assembly constituency as part of his campaign for BJP candidate Kothapalli Srinivas, the Home Minister said Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in the hope that both the residual AP and Telangana would see development. Both N. Chandrababu Naidu and K. Chandrashekhar Rao as chief ministers failed as there is no development in either States, he opined.
Talking about issues in the election the BJP leader accused Congress of misrule which resulted in inflation. It was under the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that inflation was brought under control.
The Home Minister predicted a win for BJP in Telangana, which will enable it to form the government. He said BJP will also win in the other four States where elections are being held.
Central schemes
In Hanamkonda, Mr. Singh said the Centre gave more funds for development of Warangal city than TRS government. Addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidate M. Dharma Rao, he recalled that in 1984 Janga Reddy from Warangal bagged one MP seat out of the only two seats BJP won across the country.
Many farmer welfare schemes were introduced by the BJP. “The BJP government reduced the price of the fertilisers. By 2022 we will increase the income of the farmers,” he said and added that in Telangana, 4500 farmers committed suicide.
“The Congress government gave only ₹16,500 crore to Telangana through the 13th Finance Commission, whereas under the 14th Finance Commission the BJP gave ₹1.5 lakh crore, but still the state remains underdeveloped. The people must question this. There is lack of political will in Telangana,” he said. The Home Minister alleged that KCR was diverting people’s attention by raking up the minority reservation issue. “The people must not encourage communal politics. We live in the country which believes in unity. We all must live as one family,” he said.
Funds diversion
Later, addressing a public meeting in Halia, in Nalgonda district, Mr. Singh said lack of political will was the only reason for poor development in Telangana. “Natural and human resources are abundant, the problem is political will,” he said.
“The constituency with the world famous Nagarjunasagar dam, lacks roads, colleges, drinking and irrigation supply,” he said, urging people to vote for K. Niveditha, Bharatiya Janata Party’s nominee in Nagarjunasagar constituency, to witness development.
The Home Minister also recollected the key policies initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, and the formation of smaller states like — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. “They stand in top in development, but Andhra Pradesh and Telangana don’t. I want to know the reasons from the Chief Ministers,” he said.
Mr. Singh charged the TRS government with having diverted funds for implementation of Central schemes like Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Dismissing the TRS demand for reservations for Muslims, the Union Home Minister said: “The TRS government should explain whose reservations should be cancelled here, to give 12% reservations for the minorities.”
