Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has strongly condemned the lethargic approach adopted by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in handling the drought situation in the State.
Speaking to media persons at Gadwal in Mahabubnagar district on Monday, Shabbir Ali said that the Chief Minister was meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on drought issue only after Telangana farmers lost four consecutive crops. Further, he said it was not KCR who sought the Prime Minister’s appointment, but he was invited by the Centre along with other Chief Ministers of drought hit States.
Shabbir Ali also accused KCR of diluting the agenda of his proposed meeting with Modi. Instead of confining himself to seeking relief for drought affected areas, the Chief Minister wants to speak about increase in Assembly seats. “KCR must learn to think beyond politics and elections. He looks concerned about increasing 30-40 MLAs, but least bothered about the welfare of about 4 crore people of Telangana State. So far, KCR has put all his energies in winning elections, by-elections or encouraging defections in other parties. Presently, he is pursuing the sole agenda of finishing off opposition parties from the State,” he said.
The Congress leader compared KCR with the Roman Emperor Nero who fiddled while Rome burned. “We have been cautioning the State Government about the worst drought situation for the past several months. Instead of taking measures to minimise the impact of adverse climatic conditions, KCR remained busy pursuing his dirty politics,” he said.
Shabbir Ali said that the meeting between KCR and Modi was nothing more than a formality. “Both have woken up after Telangana farmers lost their crops. One farmer is committing suicide once in every 3-4 hours while more than 200 people died due to recent heat wave. Now unseasonal rains have caused the remaining damage. The Central Government did not release adequate funds for Telangana. By holding a meeting with all CMs, Modi is trying to cover up his failures. Convening a meeting on drought situation just before the onset of monsoon is ridiculous and meaningless,” he said.
The Congress leader said that the people should realise and understand the real nature of KCR. He alleged that the Chief Minister was a just power-hungry and publicity crazy politician. (INN)