Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy likened former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) to the last Nizam of Hyderabad and remarked that just like the former, KCR also “destroyed Telangana’s culture and traditions.”
“Just like the Nizam, KCR also believed that his successors should rule after him…” he said, during a ‘meet the press’ programme held on the occasion of the Congress government completing 100 days in power in Suravaram Pratap Reddy Auditorium at Basheerbagh on Sunday, March 17.
Revanth said that the people of Telangana got united after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) “tried to push nepotism onto them and voted them out of power.”
“KCR didn’t believe in democracy. He showed Nizam’s clone in him to people. September 17, 1948, (Hyderabad’s integration into the Indian Union) has a serious place in history. December 3, 2023 (Congress’ win in Telangana Assembly elections) also has similar importance. While Nizam’s autocratic rule ended on September 17, 1948, KCR’s rule ended on December 3, 2023,” he remarked.
He further stated that “dictators” always tried to destroy the culture of a place. “Instead of TG, they brought in TS, so that it sounds closer to TRS. They didn’t give the state song status to ‘Jaya Jayahe Telangana’,” he said.
The chief minister said that his government permitted protests at Dharna Chowk. “We are also making changes to the Telangana Thalli statue’s form. We will make sure that the statue represents Telangana’s culture,” he added.
On party defections
On the remarks of leaders from the BRS and BJP that they will bring down the Congress government, Revanth remarked that he “won’t sit idle” if they resort to such activities.
“We have not indulged in defections (of elected representatives) in the last 100 days. I have just begin my politics today. I just opened my gate today and not yet completely. One MP and one MLA joined our party today (Dr Ranjith Reddy and Danam Nagender from BRS),” he said.
On RS Praveen Kumar
On former state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief RS Praveen Kumar’s resignation from the party and on the reports of him joining the BRS, Revanth said that he offered the role of TSPSC chairman to him but Praveen rejected it.
“RS Praveen Kumar is my good friend. He has a strong conviction towards the upliftment of marginalised sections….But KCR can pull out half of anybody’s strength…I don’t want to comment on Praveen Kumar joining the BRS,” he said.
