Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Member of Parliament A. Revanth Reddy has alleged Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) conspiracy to change the Indian Constitution to suit its ideology found an echo in Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s voice.
Reacting to Mr. Rao’s proposal for a new Constitution for the country, he asked what else one can expect from the Chief Minister whose liking for Prime Minister Narendra Modi is evident in the way the TRS supported all the controversial bills in the Parliament.
Speaking to the reporters along with Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkata Reddy in New Delhi, where they are attending the Parliament, the Congress chief and Malkajgiri MP said this is a clever ploy of Mr. Rao to divert attention from the Budget that failed Telangana totally yet again.
“In the three-hour-long press conference, Mr. Rao did not raise the unfulfilled promises of the Bifurcation Act but tried to create a new narrative on the Constitution that would never be a reality,” he said.
Mr. Reddy asked whether Mr. Rao wants to take away the rights given by the Constitution to the poor and voiceless by talking of change in the Constitution written by intellectuals way ahead of their time and led by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. “Mr. Rao was always inclined towards the BJP's ideology. This time he has dared to come out in the open against Dr. Ambedkar,” he claimed.
Stating that the Congress cadre would not let this happen, he called the party workers to burn Mr. Rao's effigies across Telangana, near the statues of Dr. Ambedkar.
“A 48-hour agitation would also be held from Thursday demanding that Mr. Rao withdraw his remarks while tendering an unconditional apology,” he said.
Objects to KCR’s language
Mr. Revanth Reddy also objected to the language used by Mr. Rao against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he said was abusive and against Telangana culture and values. Using such language against a woman Minister, who also happens to hail from a Telugu State, is unpardonable.
He said Mr. Rao must give respect to Narendra Modi as he is the Prime Minister of India. Congress never used such offensive language against the Prime Minister despite the serious ideological and political differences with Mr. Modi, he said.
Commenting on the budget, he described it as heavily loaded in favour of 10% of the rich and elite, at the cost of 90% of other Indians. Farmers, who constitute nearly 75% of the total population, were completely cheated with subsidy on fertilizer reduced and not even a mention of Minimum Support Price for the crops. The government has earmarked a meagre 4.8% of the total budget for agriculture, which employs nearly 70% of the population, he said.
