Jairam’s jibe at TRS chief

• Running govt not as easy as leading movement
• Congress can win polls on its own in Telangana
• It had contested more seats than TRS in the past
• Pranahita Chevella will be accorded national status
• Harish says, “It’s Cong which is craving for tie-up”
• TRS welcomes T Cong leaders’ stance on going solo

Hyderabad: With no clear indications from the Congress high command on the issue of poll alliance with TRS, the two parties in the State are indulging in cat and mouse game.

Though, the AICC general secretary in-charge of state affairs, Digvijay Singh, says that the party is holding talks with TRS leadership and that TRS leader K Keshav Rao would meet them in Delhi on Monday, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh joined the state T Congress leaders in criticising the TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Speaking at a meeting of Congress leaders in Sangareddy in Medak, the constituency represented by KCR, on Sunday, Jairam referred to the various speeches of KCR wherein he has been making promises left, right and centre, and said running a government is not as easy as leading a movement. The two are different issues, he pointed out.

Jairam said the Congress high command is yet to take a decision on the issue of poll alliances. He said the party on its own has the strength to win the general elections. He recalled how the Congress party had contested more seats than the TRS in the past.

The union minister called upon the Congress workers not to bother about the poll alliances or wait for it.

He said they should take up the campaign in an aggressive manner and claim the credit for making T state a reality. He said they should drive home the point that it was the determination and iron will of AICC president Sonia Gandhi which could get the T Bill passed in Parliament despite heavy odds.

Taking umbrage at the remarks of Jairam, TRS leader T Harish Rao retorted, saying that it was Congress which was craving for poll alliances and not TRS.

Speaking to reporters in Medak, Harish said that he welcomed the statement made by the Congress senior leader K Jana Reddy that they were opposed to poll alliance with TRS. He further said that reconstruction of TRS was possible only by TRS and not Congress party.

Mentioning about the petitions filed by Seemandhra leaders including the former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Supreme Court, he said he was happy that the State Reorganisation Bill was getting scrutinized legally. He insisted that the government had followed the constitutional procedures in framing and passing the Bill. He further said that the Centre would accord national project status to the Pranahita Chevella lift irrigation scheme as soon as the project gets the technical clearance.

Jairam found fault with Kiran for his decision to launch a new political party. He said Kiran had grown in Congress and became the Chief Minister of a big state. It was not proper for him to ditch the party.

He was equally critical of the former Union Minister D Purandeswari, who joined the BJP after rising to great heights in the Congress party. He said he stands by his allegation against her that she had quit because the government had not agreed to construct port at Ramayampatnam as demanded by her.

He is likely to visit Nizamabad and Rajahmundry in next few days.