Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was behaving like a dictator, and that he was viewed by no one as a Congressman, but rather as a “BJP man” who had “sold his MPs to the BJP.” Speaking during an informal interaction with the media, the BRS leader suggested the Congress party should change its symbol from a hand to a bulldozer.

Rao claimed that the government was acting in a tyrannical manner against all sections of society, stating that even Group-1 aspirants and students were unable to hold a simple round-table meeting. He alleged that schools and colleges have been shut, hospitals have collapsed after the cancellation of the Aarogyasrischeme, and questioned what single achievement the Chief Minister had delivered since taking office. He also criticised Revanth Reddy for not attending the Secretariat.

KTR further alleged that the Chief Minister’s “harassment, threats, and extortion demands” were forcing private companies to exit Telangana. “L&T is withdrawing from the Metro Rail project because it could not withstand the harassment,” said Rao, adding that in the past, the CFO of L&T was threatened with jail.

He accused the Chief Minister of selling off all the lands in Hyderabad and said the cancellation of the Airport Expressway has hampered IT sector expansion.

In response to a question on new political parties, KTR stated that in a democracy, anyone had the right to form a political party and make their voice heard. He welcomed the emergence of new parties. Reacting to Revanth Reddy’s claim that the Congress government was free of nepotism, KTR countered that contracts worth hundreds of crores of rupees were awarded to Sujan Reddy and Amit Reddy. He also alleged that Revanth Reddy was taking out his personal grudge against him on the leaders of Sircilla. KTR challenged the government to conduct by-elections immediately if it believed its governance was truly excellent. He also alleged that the Regional Ring Road (RRR) alignment was completely changed by the Congress to serve its own vested interests.