SP, AAP won’t stay in I.N.D.I.A alliance, says BRS leader

Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader and Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar has said friends like Akhilesh Yadav (SP) and Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) will not stay in the I.N.D.I.A alliance and come back to the pink party after the Assembly elections in Telangana.

In an interview with The Hans India, he spoke on the party growth at national level in the coming days. Kumar said the election will set the tone for future politics in the country and the hegemony of the Congress which had come after the Karnataka result will decline. “Our friends like Akhilesh and Kejriwal will come out of the I.N.D.I.A alliance and stand by the BRS. We are not part of either the I.N.D.I.A or NDA; we maintain equidistance with both,” he asserted.

The BRS leader said post the State Assembly elections the party activities will increase across the country. “Presently our focus is only on the Assembly polls; after that we will eye States which have influence of our schemes like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.” When asked about the present focus only in Maharashtra and not Madhya Pradesh and other States, he said the activities would increase as the Lok Sabha elections approach.

On charges of being A and B teams of two national parties, Kumar said the Congress says the BRS is B-team of BJP whereas the saffron party dubs the pink party as B-team of Congress. “We are neither the B-team of BJP nor the Congress. We won’t be part of these two national parties,” he pointed out.

Replying to a question on the slow pace of inquiry by the Central agencies like ED and others, Kumar said ED has interrogated Kavitha but did not arrest her. Similarly, the ED had interrogated Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi but has not arrested them. Does it mean that the BJP has gone soft on Congress, he asked.

Indicating that no single party is likely to have a majority in the next LS elections, Kumar said BRS along with its friends will have an important role to play. On the party’s agenda for national politics, he said progress was its main agenda with a prime focus on farmers.

The BRS believes that if farmers are empowered, entire society will be empowered. If farmers are developed, every sector, including manufacturing, wholesale and service will also be empowered.

The money gets rotated it will increase people’s purchasing power; hence farmers are the prime focus of the BRS. On allegations of giving freebies, he said it was wrong to call such schemes freebies.

The RythuBandhu money which the government gives to farmers is not a freebie. It is an investment support to farmers.

After the ‘Rohini Karte’, farmers run from pillar to post to get loans on interest from banks and private lenders.

The government provides Rs 10,000/acre and farmers uses this to purchase seeds, urea bags, DEP, takes tractors on rent before tilling fields. This is called investment and they should understand this,” said Kumar.

On the understanding with the AIMIM, he said there is a difference between a friendly party and alliance. “If it is an alliance the BRS would not have contested elections on their seats.

We are contesting even in seats fought by the MIM. The party has differences of opinion on many issues and we don’t agree with them on many aspects,” he pointed out