Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that the State Government increase the quota for all categories of Backward Classes.
Addressing a meeting of party workers in his constituency Huzurnagar of Suryapet district on Saturday, Uttam Kumar Reddy welcomed the proposed increase in quota for Muslims from present 4% to 12%. However, he said when quota for Muslim communities under BC-E categories was being increased, then quota for BCs under A, B, C and D categories should also be increased in proportionate to their population. Similarly, he said that the quota for Scheduled Tribes (STs) should be increased to 12% as promised by the TRS in its election manifesto for 2014 elections. He slammed Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for not making a mention of increase in quota for STs during the review meeting he held at Pragati Bhavan on Friday. By promising other sops, he alleged that the Chief Minister was trying to divert STs’ attention from his failure to implement increased quota in jobs and education.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also ridiculed the hype KCR has been trying to create around 24-hour power supply to farmers. He said it was due to the vision of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmonhan Singh that except for six States and one union territory, today the entire country is energy surplus. He said every unit of power being generated in Telangana today was due to the projects launched during previous Congress regime. He said that the TRS Government did not generate a single unit from the power projects that it proposed and most of them have remained non-starters.
He said KCR has become habitual of taking credit for achievements of previous Congress regime. Citing another instance, he said Hyderabad Metro Rail Project was approved, designed and started during the Congress regime. There was nothing left for the TRS Government to do with this project. Therefore, it created obstacles and delayed the project by over two years. Now the same project is being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narender Modi on November 28. KCR will again make false claims to show as if he conceptualised the Hyderabad Metro Rail project.
The TPCC chief gave a detailed account of how TRS Government has cheated the farmers and pushed the entire farm sector into crisis. He said the crop loan waiver scheme was not implemented properly and even the interest amount that got accumulated due to split of amount into four instalments and delay in making payments was not cleared. He said over Rs. 20,000 crore were paid to contractors of Mission Bhagiratha and other projects allegedly to get six per cent commissions. But poor farmers were left in the lurch. Even the assurances given in Assembly on multiple occasions on clearing interest amount were not honoured, he said adding that the Congress has submitted documentary evidence to Assembly Speaker to proof that the Chief Minister lied on the floor of the House.
Uttam Kumar Reddy asked party workers to make extensive use of social media to expose the failures of TRS Government. He alleged that the KCR Government was trying to either influence or pressurise the mainstream media not to report its failures or avoid coverage for Congress party. He said even media persons were cheated by the Chief Minister. He asked whether any media person got a housing site or any other benefit promised by the TRS Government.
The TPCC president directed Congress workers to hoist flags in all villages across Telangana State on November 19 to mark the birth centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He said that the programme should be held at a massive scale in all villages to convey a strong message that the Congress party was present everywhere to raise voice against the anti-people policies of both TRS Government in the State and BJP Government at the Centre.
Stating that the Congress party would return to power in 2019, Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that it would waive off crop loans up to Rs. 2 lakh in a single take. He also promised that in addition to the MSP, farmers would be paid additional bonus on their produce. He also promised that a monthly allowance of Rs. 3,000 would be paid to all jobless youth. Alleging that present TRS Government was extending all benefits to only KCR family, he said that the Congress party would ensure that the benefit of formation of Telangana State reaches every citizen.
The meeting was also addressed by TPCC Chief Spokesperson Dr. Dasoju Sravan and other senior leaders. (NSS)