Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K. Taraka Rama Rao has refuted the allegations of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) working president J.P. Nadda against the TRS government and its welfare and development schemes and asked the latter to prove the charges.
Speaking at a meeting of the TRS division and booth-level committees of Kukatpally Assembly Constituency here on Monday he said TRS had grown into a formidable political force with about 50 lakh membership from a platform that led the movement for separate Statehood to Telangana. However, some political parties were unable to digest the strides of development in the State and peaceful atmosphere in Hyderabad.
Going into specifics Mr. Rao sought to know why no BJP-ruled State was given uninterrupted free power supply to agriculture and why social security pensions of ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 per month were not being given. On the claims of BJP leaders that it was that Centre that was giving lion’s share of funds for social security pension, the TRS leader said out of ₹12,000 crore a year being spent on the scheme only ₹200 crore was being given by the Centre.
Irrigation projects
He stated that the movement for separate Statehood was built on the injustices done to Telangana in the matter of irrigation, funds and employment opportunities and all three were being fulfilled now. Responding to the allegation of corruption in Kaleshwaram project, he said several Central government agencies were hailing it as one of the best irrigation projects in the world.
Similarly, when the bodies such as NITI Aayog had appreciated Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha programmes and recommended ₹24,000 crore assistance from the Centre, the BJP leaders were speaking in a different voice. He suggested them to decide at Delhi-level whether the programmes were good or not.
On the criticism that Telangana had denied Ayushman Bharat scheme to people, the TRS working president said it was a “useless” (’bakwas’) scheme compared to Aarogya Sri being implemented by the State government. He asked the TRS cadre to be vigilant against the attempts of BJP to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the State in the name of religion and counter them effectively.
He also wanted to know from the BJP leaders as to what help the Centre had extended to Hyderabad city during the last five years. Ministers T. Srinivas Yadav, V. Srinivas Goud and Ch. Malla Reddy and legislators Madhavaram Krishna Rao, K.P. Vivekanad, Shambipur Raju and K. Naveen Kumar also spoke.
