Hyderabad: Telangana’s Minister for Finance and Health, T. Harish Rao, alleged on Sunday that the BJP is trying to fool the people of Munugode Assembly constituency with false promises.
He slammed the saffron party for promising to enhance monthly pension to various categories of beneficiaries to Rs 3,000 if it wins the by-election and recalled that it had made a similar promise in Dubbak and Huzurabad by-elections.
Harish Rao said BJP won the Dubbak and Huzurabad seats but the party never fulfilled its promise. He told reporters that after betraying the people of the two constituencies, the BJP is now trying to mislead the people of Munugode.
He said it has become a habit of the BJP to make false promises and spread lies. He also questioned the BJP as to why it is not paying Rs 3,000 pension in states where it is in power.
Harish Rao pointed out that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat, only Rs 750 is being paid while in Karnataka it is Rs 600.
He also said that that it was TRS which increased the pension from a paltry Rs 200 to Rs 2,016.
The minister claimed that Telangana is the only state in the country which is providing pension to dialysis patients, toddy tappers, weavers and people above 57 years of age. It is also the only state to pay a pension of Rs 3,016 to handicapped persons.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader said the BJP has a long history of making promises during elections and then going back on them.
He said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself went back on the promises he made, what is the guarantee that other BJP leaders would stand by their word.
Harish Rao also said that BJP is known for its lies and ‘jumla’, as he pointed out that Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh in every account and later Amit Shah dismissed it as a mere ‘jumla’.
He said from one vote for two states to doubling the income of farmers and two crore jobs every year, the BJP went back on all its promises.
The TRS leader alleged that the BJP insulted Telangana by questioning the process of formation of the state.
He recalled Modi’s statement that the mother was killed to save the child.
“Immediately after the formation of Telangana, its seven mandals were forcibly merged with Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Harish Rao said the Centre has still not allocated to Telangana its share in Krishna river water.
Though the Niti Aayong recommended that Rs 24,000 crore be provided to Telangana’s Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya but the Centre has not given even 24 paise, he added.