A historic picture of the late Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy signing the first file as the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh providing free power to farmers in 2004 is back in circulation with the Telangana Congress deciding to counter Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s claims of free power supply and his criticism of the Congress.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhatti Vikramarka initiated a new campaign taking a selfie with the huge frame of YSR’s iconic picture in the background and announced that the party will go to the people to expose Mr. Chandrasekhar Raos claims that TRS was the first to provide free power supply to the farmers.
“Congress has the patent on free power as the then Congress government in the combined Andhra Pradesh was the first State in the country to offer free power to farmers. Who understands farmers better than the Congress,” he asked at a press conference after launching the ‘Selfie with Congress Development Projects’.
He said the campaign would cover all the development done by the previous Congress governments, including irrigation projects, Hyderabad Metro Rail, Outer Ring Road, and Hyderabad International Airport, among others. He asked all the Congress cadre to take selfies with Congress development projects in the State and post them on social media also tagging the BRS leaders.
Mr. Vikramarka, who recently completed 1350 Kms of Padayatra in Telangana, ridiculed the claims of the ruling BRS that Congress wants to scrap free power. “How can we scrap our own scheme,” he asked and said the BRS should stop spreading falsehood through its social media spending the ‘ill-gotten’ money.
On why Congress gave only 9 hours of free power, he said that was for the entire Andhra Pradesh and that too at a time when power was not abundantly available. “Our policy is free power to farmers,” he said clarifying that PCC president A. Revanth Reddy’s comments on free power were twisted by the BRS to defame the party.
TPCC Campaign Committee chairman Madhu Yaskhi Goud said the Warangal Declaration made by Rahul Gandhi clearly explained free power to farmers, ₹15,000 financial support for every acre for land owners and ₹12,000 to tenants. Irrespective of whatever misinformation Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao spreads people have already decided to vote out the BRS, he said. He also alleged that Dharani portal was used to snatch lands given to SCs and STs and pass them on to people from his community. He said once the Congress comes to power it would probe the redesigning of the Pranahita project launched by Congress and renamed Kaleshwaram. Congress leaders Syed Azmatullah Husseini and Kailash were also present.
