Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Friday, December 19, dared Telangana Chief Minister Revant Reddy to prove his claims of having the approval of people in the panchayat elections by making the 10 defected MLAs from BRS resign and seek fresh mandate.
Addressing a victory meeting of newly elected BRS sarpanches in Sircilla, KTR challenged the CM to test his “66 per cent support” claim.
“The CM claimed Congress won 66 per cent in local polls and called it a blessing for his government. Yet, within five minutes, he took a U-turn, stating local polls are fought on local issues and caste, not government performance,” he said.
“Mr. Chief Minister, if you truly believe the people are with you, accept my challenge. Make those 10 MLAs you bought like cattle resign. Let us go for by-elections. The people will decide who has the real strength and who has the real percentage,” he added.
Telangana Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar on Thursday, December 18, dismissed the disqualification petitions filed against five of the 10 BRS MLAs who allegedly joined the Congress after the 2023 Assembly elections. There was no truth in the claim that these MLAs shifted their allegiance to the ruling party, the Speaker said.
Taking a dig at the “moral bankruptcy” of the defected legislators, KTR it was “pathetic to see leaders who served as Ministers and Speakers stooping so low for ‘blade-of-grass’ positions.”
“They proudly announced joining Congress in front of Rahul Gandhi, yet shamelessly lie before the Speaker, claiming they are still with BRS. Clinging to power like bats, their political credibility is completely ruined,” he added.
The BRS leader said that even the Speaker’s office was being pressured by the CM to ignore concrete evidence and shield the defectors.
Good show in Telangana local body polls
KTR said the panchayat election results are a clear lesson against the Congress for deceiving farmers, women, and the BC communities. Despite the Congress government allegedly using the police and official machinery to intimidate the opposition, KTR said the BRS won 80 out of 117 Panchayats in Sircilla.
Congress-backed candidates won in 7,527 gram panchayats. K Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS came in second, but bagged an impressive 3,511 sarpanch seats out of the total 12,702 that went to polls across the state. The BJP came a distant third, winning 710 segments.
