Congress used minorities as vote-bank, charges KTR

Hyderabad: Alleging that the minorities were used for votes by the Congress party, BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Monday said no other leader values secularism like Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. Addressing the minority community leaders here, KTR said there were States like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Karnataka with highest Muslim population. Highest budget for the minorities was being given by the BRS government under KCR. “People from the minority communities are leading lives with confidence,” he asserted.

Rao appealed to people to support KCR who allocated the highest budget for minority welfare, set up educational institutions for the minorities, and worked for welfare of all without religion, region and caste discrimination.

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the first government under Jawaharlal Nehru was formed with the support of RSS leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who was made a Cabinet member. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi also were supported by the RSS during their terms.

‘The Congress in Telangana was functioning under RSS leader Revanth Reddy. Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had written to Sonia Gandhi questioning why an RSS leader was made the party chief in Telangana. People gave the Congress 11 chances, while it cheated people 11 times. Congress failed to deliver and as a result, the country is still in poverty’, alleged Rao.

About the saffron party, he said KCR was the only leader who called PM Modi a fascist after the latter assumed office in 2014 and merged Telangana’s five mandals in Andhra Pradesh. ‘KCR had said Modi does not respect democratic governments’.

Referring to Bandi Sanjay’s statement that mosques should be dug up across the State and if ‘bodies’ were found, then Muslims could keep the mosques; if a ‘Shivling’ was found, then it should be handed over to Hindus, Rao appealed to people to reject leaders like Sanjay.

He said Hyderabad had become a shining example for peacekeeping and harmony. ‘There are no incidents of communal disturbances or lynching, unlike the States ruled by Opposition parties. He appreciated the Muslim community heads for recently postponing the Milad-un-Nabi processions which coincided with Ganesh festival. “This is what Hyderabad is known for - Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb,” he remarked. ‘There was no other leader who values secularism like KCR’. He appealed to people to vote for BRS and make KCR a hat-trick CM.