Hyderabad: Terming Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi as a political tourist, Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) working president and minister KT Rama Rao said that politicians who are unemployed are provoking the youth of Telangana.
He said that the parties which did not work for the welfare of people while in power are now “preaching the state governments like Telangana which consistently ranked high in performance”.
Responding to Priyanka Gandhi’s Telangana visit for a political rally on youth issues, the BRS working president reminded her of the ‘decades-long history of failures of Congress Party’.
KTR criticized Congress for ‘exploiting’ youth, and employment issues solely for its politics. He said that the country would not have experienced an ‘unemployment crisis’ if Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced employment policy and worked like BRS. The Minister said that the Telangana government under the leadership of chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao provided employment to 2.2 lakh youth in the government and 22 lakh youth in the private sector.
The Minister said that Congress was at the ‘end of its wits’ as it was away from power for the past 10 years. He cited this as the reason for the ‘political unemployees’ of Congress trying to provoke the youth of Telangana.
Asserting that they will not be successful in the ‘vicious’ attempts, he asked them to compare the number of posts filled by Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh and by the Telangana government after formation of the state. He reminded about the ‘bitter experiences and injustice’ done to Telangana youth in interviews even after clearing written exams with merit.
He demanded Priyanka Gandhi apologize on behalf of the Congress party for taking the lives of hundreds of Telangana youth during the separate Telangana movement, by delaying the formation of the state for their political gains. KTR said that even the current Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee’s (TPCC) president Revanth Reddy termed Sonia Gandhi as the culprit (balidevatha) behind all the suicides.
The Minister said that Hyderabad is a global city that welcomes lakhs of tourists every day and it also welcomes ‘political tourists’ like Priyanka Gandhi.
He termed the Congress as a ‘sinking ship’ and suggested Priyanka Gandhi turn her political tour into an ‘educational tour’. He asked her to witness the growth of Telangana and learn by seeing the world class roads, flyovers, cable bridge and offices of the top MNCs in Hyderabad. KTR suggested that she ask fellow congressmen what people like superstar Rajinikanth spoke about Hyderabad. He invited her to understand local conditions and learn from what she sees there.
KTR highlighted the ‘failures’ during Congress rule like lack of drinking and irrigation water, issues with electricity, and lack of support for agriculture.
The Minister said that in stark contrast to the Congress rule, BRS led Telangana government provided 24*7 power, Rythu Bandhu, Aasaea pensions for the needy, Mission Bhagiratha etc. He suggested Priyanka learn from the inclusive and holistic developmental activities, and policies of Telangana, and implement them in Congress-ruled states.
He said that the people of Telangana who are ‘astute’ will secure their future by electing KCR who achieved formation of the state and that the ‘political tourist’ Priyanka Gandhi will realize this in the tour.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary will lead a rally and address a public meeting at Saroornagar stadium on Monday.
This is her maiden political visit to Telangana since the state’s formation in 2014.
