Rahul’s call to end KCR family rule

​Hyderabad: Apparently trying to take the sting out of the campaign of TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday listed out the schemes of the pink party that have become non-starters at the ground level, while vowing to end KCR’s family rule in the state which, he said, might become an agent of nemesis for Telangana awarded by the Congress in 2014.

Rahul Gandhi, in his second visit to the state to campaign for elections after becoming the party chief, heli-hopped from Bhainsa to Kamareddy to Hyderabad where he went for KCR's jugular. At each of the three meetings, he laced his address with local issues like the delay in reopening of the Nizam Sugar Factory at Kamareddy, change of Komaram Bheem project's name at Bhainsa and taking the MIM to task at Hyderabad.

The Congress president, who signed off his electioneering in Telangana after addressing Rajiv Sadbhavan Yatra at Charminar in Hyderabad, stressed the need for breaking the stranglehold of MIM on the Old City. "KCR, Narendra Modi and MIM chief are all together," he said with an intention to wean away the Muslims from the MIM. The MIM always supported the decisions of Narendra Modi," he pointed out.

Rahul Gandhi presented the Rajiv Sadbhavan Award to ageing K Rosaiah, who served AP as its chief minister and Tamil Nadu as its Governor in the past. The Congress chief, in his incisive attack on the Chief Minister at all the three meetings, tried to expose the grey areas of the TRS machinery and how it portended a threat to the growth of Telangana.

"The Congress awarded Telangana. Unless it is elected to power, the Telangana dream, where all sections of society live in perpetual peace and prosperity, would not come true," he said.

He sought to steal the thunder from TRS' manifesto which promised waiver of agriculture loan of up to Rs 1 lakh by announcing that the Congress would waive double the amount at one go. On top of it, Rahul Gandhi warmed the cockles of the unemployed youth by saying that in the first year of its governance, the Congress would fill all the one lakh government jobs that are lying vacant as of now. This apart, he said, the Congress government would provide Rs 3,000 per month as unemployment allowance to those who are without jobs.

Hitting KCR where it hurts him most, Rahul Gandhi listed out what he considered spectacular duds among the schemes that the TRS had taken up. "The two-bed room apartments, KG-to-PG free education, three acres of land to each Dalit family, one job for each family assurance and water supply to each household have only remained on paper. But what materialised with remarkable ease and speed was Rs 300 crore Pragati Bhavan for KCR and his family to live," he said. "KCR pushed the state into debt. Telangana has now Rs two lakh crore debt.

There is debt of Rs 2.60 lakh on every family in Telangana. Every citizen of Telangana carries a debt burden of Rs 60,000," the Congress president said. He said KCR had failed to exert pressure on the centre for setting up turmeric Board in Nizamabad.

The Congress chief, alleging that the friendship is in full bloom between KCR and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, listed out the instances where the Telangana leader had supported the decisions of the NDA at the Centre, including demonetisation which has been described world over as a retrograde decision.

"If KCR had swindled money by redesigning the Pranahita Chevella scheme, the "chowkidar" at Delhi has become a ‘chor’ and transferred Rs 30,000 crore people's money into the pocket of Anil Ambani after redrafting the Rafale deal, necking HAL out," Rahul Gandhi said.

He dismissed as baseless the TRS' claims that it cared for the farmers. "After the advent of the TRS government in the state, as many as 4,500 farmers had committed suicide. In fact, they were in the forefront, fighting for Telangana. KCR's government has a history of handcuffing farmers in Khammam and Warangal," he said.