hyderabad
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has hit back strongly at the remarks made by Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the formation of Telangana State and K. Chandrasekhar Rao stating that it was one more attempt by that party to mislead people in a series of falsehoods it is spreading ahead of Assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, the former Pradesh Congress Committee president who joined BRS last month accusing the present leadership of insulting a senior leader like him, asked the Congress leaders whether they had the guts to go to people by telling facts. He sought to know from Mr. Chidambaram whether he could have announced statehood to Telangana had KCR not gone on the indefinite fast.
Mr. Lakshmaiah, who was holding a key position in the Congress government in combined Andhra Pradesh at the time of Telangana formation, stated that there were 1.95 lakh vacancies in Telangana and questioned the Congress leaders as to what was the number now. The Congress party was trying to mislead people only to gain political mileage before the November 30 polling.
On the borrowings (debt) by Telangana government, he explained that any State would get loans within the purview of the constitutional provisions and Acts like FRBM. He said that Telangana was at the 22nd position in borrowings in the country and Arunachal Pradesh was at the top. “If the Congress leaders have guts, they should speak on the debt of their government in Rajasthan,” he said.
The former Minister asked the Congress leaders when they could implement the six guarantees promised without borrowing money and sale of lands, in case they were voted to power. Mr. Lakshmaiah said people would slap the Congress and make KCR the Chief Minister again.
Taking to a social media platform to rebut the remarks of Mr. Chidambaram, BRS leader and Minister for Finance and Health T. Harish Rao said the former’s comments that there was only Madras State when Potti Sriramulu was on a fast-unto-death for separate Andhra State, conveniently forgetting that there was Telangana too in the form of Hyderabad State.
Again, Congress was responsible for the sacrifice of Potti Sriramulu as it was the Jawaharlal Nehru government that had delayed formation of Andhra carving it out of Madras. About the debt, he said Telangana was a State with highest fiscal prudence and financial discipline.
