The Tuesday Interview with Telangana PCC chief Anumulu Revanth Reddy.
Exuding confidence of a thumping victory in the November 30 polls, Telangana PCC chief Anumulu Revanth Reddy says the people of Telangana are vexed with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his family. Revanth Reddy tells DH’s S N V Sudhir that it is only the Congress that can bring the state back on the development track. Excerpts:
You undertook a padayatra across the state in the past. What’s the mood on the ground?
Definitely, the mood is in favour of Congress. The people of Telangana gave KCR 10 years. Leave aside people’s aspirations or needs, he didn’t even fulfil his promises during that period. He has lost all the goodwill and confidence of people. So, now they are of the firm belief that Congress is the only alternative. Congress enjoys the goodwill of creating Telangana, which is now amplified by the announcement of six guarantees. Keeping these two factors in mind, I say the situation in Telangana is favourable to Congress.
This election is a battle between the KCR family and the four-crore family of Telangana. The people of Telangana are eagerly waiting for November 30 to dump BRS and elect Congress.
What are the major issues you think would have an impact on the polls?
Any state needs both welfare and development for overall progress. KCR and his government have failed in both. On the welfare front, he betrayed the people of Telangana. He failed to fulfil the promises he had made, whether it was two bed room houses for the poor, three acres of land for every Dalit family, a job for every household, a Rs 1 lakh farm loan waiver, irrigating 1 lakh acres in every assembly segment, a 100-bed hospital in every segment, 12% reservations each to minorities and tribals, Dalit bandhu and BC bandhu.
His government didn’t even provide sheep to the beneficiaries, even after paying demand drafts. During the previous polls, he went to town with development programmes like Kaleshwaram, Palamuru-Rangareddy, Mission Bhageeratha, and other projects. But all these projects have now collapsed, exposing massive corruption and his shallowness.
We have been pointing out that there was rampant corruption as he escalated the costs and also compromised on the quality of the construction. Now, all that is coming to light as these big projects, like Medigadda Barrage, are collapsing like a pack of cards. KCR and his son KTR talk a lot about development around Hyderabad. The fact remains that they have brought nothing new in the last 10 years. The incumbent government is enjoying the fruits of the ecosystem and infrastructure developed by the Congress government in the past. It did not create any new ecosystems or infrastructure. Except for land grabbing, there has been no new development. Telangana lost a golden opportunity and valuable time due to KCR’s misrule. Ten years after Telangana was formed, the common man’s plight remained the same while KCR’s wealth went up.
While you are trying to showcase the Karnataka model of commitment to guarantees, BRS chief and Telangana CM, K Chandrashekar Rao, says that the model is a failure. He says no promises were fulfilled in Karnataka.
There are zero achievements that KCR can go to the public with. Hence this negative campaign against Congress. They were in power for 10 years and should do a positive campaign listing all their achievements. Karnataka deputy Chief Minister D K Shiva Kumar welcomed KCR and KTR to visit any part of Karnataka to check the implementation of the five guarantees. Instead, they hired people to spread lies about the electricity supply in Karnataka. It appears as if KCR is feeling bad that Karnataka didn’t elect the BJP. While we are trying to tell the people here about the Karnataka model, KCR is promoting the Karnataka template of politics while playing in the hands of the BJP, splitting the anti-incumbency vote in Telangana that will benefit BRS. Like JDS and BJP worked together secretly during the Karnataka assembly polls to split an anti-incumbency vote that would benefit the BJP, here in Telangana, the BJP is working secretly with BRS targeting Congress. Here too, after the assembly elections, both the BRS and the BJP will form an alliance to fight the Lok Sabha polls. But that template of politics failed in Karnataka, and it will fail again in Telangana.
KCR has been saying Telangana will slip into chaos if it goes into the
hands of Congress.
People are happy in Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh. Even in Madhya Pradesh, they were happy until it went into the hands of the BJP. Had those states gone into chaos? Look at the developments in Chhattisgarh. We promise implementation of that kind of development model in Telangana too. Every section is happy in Chhattisgarh. People are happy in Himachal Pradesh. Has there been any chaos or communal violence in the Congress-ruled states? Only Congress can provide stable and steady government by taking both welfare and development into account simultaneously.
How do you respond to KCR’s jibe that there are 10 CM candidates in Congress?
That is good for democracy. In Congress, 10 people can aspire to become CMs. What about BRS? Other than KCR or his family members, can anyone else aspire for the CM post? In Congress, there is a system, and everyone falls in line once the decision is made about the CM. Does such democracy exist in BRS? When there are so many aspirants, it’s a positive sign that Congress is coming to power.
Are you also in the race for the CM post? You have also announced the date of CM swearing in.
It’s natural that the names of the PCC chief, CLP leader, and other senior leaders come up for public discussion on who will be the CM if Congress comes to power. I am ready to do whatever the party central leadership asks me to do. Like the candidates who are selected through the Central Election Committee, the chief ministers are picked by the CWC. December 9 is significant for Telangana. It was on that day that the first announcement of Telangana was made, and it is also Sonia Gandhi’s birthday. She gave us Telangana. That’s why I said on December 9, a Congress CM will take the oath.