Hyderabad: Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Friday asked the BJP-led Centre if it is ‘Liberation Day’ only when a Muslim king is involved. He was referring to September 17, 1948, when the erstwhile state of Hyderabad was annexed to India with military action (which Centre is observing for a year till 2023).
“If September 17 is Liberation day, why is August 15 not the same? Why do we not talk about atrocities by the British? You can observe Liberation day, but you also want to observe the death of the Queen. Because there is a Muslim king here, you are raising this, but nothing about the British,” stated KTR, during an informal media interaction with reporters.
He was speaking with reporters a day after the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was rechristened as the Bharata Rashtra Samithi (BRS). “Without taking the Telangana government into confidence, you are getting ‘40 percent CM’, Eknath Shinde, and Kishan Reddy. Where is he the federal spirit?” he further asked. KTR’s ‘Forty percent CM’ jibe was aimed at Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is accused of running a corrupt government.
‘Modi most incompetent PM’
KTR also termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “most incompetent PM” in the history of the nation’s independence. “He is Prachar Mantri. He will do Mann ki Baat but won’t listen to ‘Jann ki Baat’,” KTR remarked.
“What Modi has achieved for sure, I have to accept one thing – When he was the chief minister of Gujarat – he said the rupee of India only falls as people running the Centre in Delhi are corrupt. The rupee is at an all-time low, and ‘jumlas’ are at an all-time high. Nonissues have now become issues,” KTR added, during his tirade against the BJP-led Centre.
Speaking on TRS superego and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s (KCR) move to go national by rebranding the TRS into BRS, KTR said that the move is to promote the ‘vibrant Telangana model’ across the country.
“In this country, everyone has an equal right, and that is exactly what the boss is doing. KCR garu has decided and our entire general body has resolved to change the name of the TRS to Bharata Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Now, of course, ECI is a constitutional body and we hope it will be passed. We know there are steps to becoming a national party,” said KTR.
He added that KCR spoke to different stakeholders after which the decision was taken. “We know the hurdles before us. ECI has defined three different criteria. We will do whatever it takes to ensure the process is complete by 2024. The upcoming General elections are our target,” he said.
Munugode by-poll
KTR also expressed confidence that the TRS (now BRS) will win the upcoming Munugode bypoll. The IT minister alleged that the BJP’s Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy (who shifted from the Congress) has reportedly told the saffron party that he should spend Rs 500 Crore on the by-election.
