Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said the ‘gates’ have been opened by the Congress to send a strong signal to those talking about toppling his Government as the party could not be blind to the challenges and claims by the BRS and the BJP that this government would fall after the Parliament elections.
Mr. Reddy put out a clear picture of the party’s future political course, indicating that MLAs and leaders from other parties would be inducted into the Congress. “We are forced to do this to counter the threats,” he said while addressing ‘Meet the Media’, organised by the Telangana Union of Working Journalists (TUWJ) in Hyderabad on March 17.
“The first 100 days I focussed on governance, but the Opposition parties focused on toppling this government. With the Election Commission declaring the schedule, it is time for me to show the political side of mine,” he said. “We just opened one gate now,” he said, indicating that a political churning to follow ahead of the Parliament elections.
Even as Mr. Reddy was addressing the media, sitting BRS MP from Chevella, Ranjit Reddy and Khairatabad BRS MLA Danam Nagender joined the Congress party.
Recalling the statements and claims of BRS leaders including Kadiyam Srihari and BJP MP K. Lakshman, he said their combined conspiracy has to be tackled and he will do whatever is necessary to save the government elected by the people.
100 days of clean governance
Stating that he offered 100 days of democratic governance, the Chief Minister took potshots at former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao accusing him of destroying Telangana’s culture, traditions, self-respect and pride.
He said just like the Nizam, Mr. Rao also believed in autocracy and people should be at his feet because he had implemented some welfare schemes. He alleged that KCR sent a strong signal of suppression to whoever questioned his decisions as he also believed that his successors should rule the State.
Mr. Rao was a reflection of the last Nizam, he said, adding that the former never believed in democracy. They both ran their governments with their lieutenants like ‘Qasim Rizvi and ‘Prabhakar Rao’ respectively as Telangana was their fiefdom.
He said September 17, 1948 when Hyderabad was merged into India was an important milestone in Hyderabad’s history and similarly December 3, 2023 also has an important place in Telangana history as Mr. Rao’s rule ended.
He also alleged that Mr. Rao destroyed the culture and self-respect of Telangana, just like the Nizam. “So we are reviving what has been destroyed. Changing the vehicle registration code from TS to TG; declaring Jaya Jaya hey Telangana as the State song and changing the emblem and Telangana Talli statue to reflect the region’s culture are some of the decisions on that front.”
