Hyderabad: Reacting to TPCC’s representation to the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the proposal to halt the Telangana govt’s cash benefit schemes like ‘Rythu Bandhu’ and ‘Dalita Bandhu’ until elections conclude, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders, MLC K Kavitha and IT minister KTR accused the Congress of being anti-farmer.
“It’s really unfortunate that Congress has stooped so low that they want to stop schemes for the welfare of farmers in the state. These have been ongoing schemes for the last 5-6 years. This establishes that Congress is anti-farmers and Dalits,” said K Kavitha.
There are 250 such schemes running in Telangana, and people are happy with them. “Stopping schemes does not make any sense. If so, then 24-hour power and water supply should be stopped, and the ambulances that run around in the state should be stopped. Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak should also be stopped,” she added.
BRS working president KTR said that the Congress may even demand curtailing of supply of 24-hour electricity and drinking water in Telangana as people may see chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s hand even in this.
KTR alleged that the Congress was the number one enemy of the farmers and said this was proved by its representation to the Election Commission.
The BRS leader said the farmers will not tolerate the conspiracies of the Congress to stop investment support to them under the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme.
KTR posted on X that people will reject the Congress and teach it a lesson in Telangana.
He claimed that the farmers in Karnataka were already repenting their decision to vote for the Congress.
KTR also alleged that the party was unable to bear the fact that farmers were getting 24-hour power supply in Telangana and hence its leaders had suggested that the supply should be reduced to three hours.
He was reacting to a representation made by state Congress leaders to the ECI over ‘Rythu Bandhu’, the investment support scheme for farmers under which the state government is providing Rs.10,000 per acre every year to the farmers in two instalments.
The leaders’ reaction came after TPCC submitted its representation to the ECI, requesting it stop the cash benefit schemes BRS has been giving people, keeping in mind election nominations are scheduled to begin on November 2, 2023.
“We are demanding that whatever cash benefits BRS has been giving to people under various schemes like Rythu Bandhu and Dalita Bandhu should stop before November 2,” Revanth Reddy said. “If we form the government, we will repay the pending amount through our enhanced schemes.”
(With inputs from agencies)
