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KCR’s remark on Raichur merger triggers slugfest
Bengaluru: Chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s remark that people of Raichur want merger of the district with Telangana because of TRS’s welfare programmes was politically motivated, Karnataka textiles minister Shankar B Patil Munenakoppa has said
Bengaluru: Chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s remark that people of Raichur want merger of the district with Telangana because of TRS’s welfare programmes was politically motivated, Karnataka textiles minister Shankar B Patil Munenakoppa has said.
At a TRS party event on Wednesday, KCR lauded the schemes launched by his government, saying no other government in the country has them.
On KCR ‘s statement, Munenakoppa said,“The Karnataka government has identified Yadgir and Raichur as priority districts. Now, a lot of development will take place there. Keeping in mind the push Raichur would get, the Telangana chief minister raised the issue … which is far-fetched...This statement is politically motivated; hence it does not require any reaction.”
The Congress in Karnataka had launched an attack on the BJP government in Karnataka for not reacting or condemning KCR’s statement. Congress MLA and former minister Priyank Kharge tweeted, “Dear CM of Karnataka, I am disappointed that not a single statement from you or anybody in the Govt on CM KCR garu’s claim that people of Raichur want to merge with Telangana because of their welfare schemes.”
The Telangana chief minister Rao claimed that people in Karnataka’s Raichur district, attracted by the TRS government’s welfare schemes, are demanding that their area be merged into Telangana, .
Rao on Wednesday inaugurated the new collectorate complex at Vikarabad, a new district in southwest Telangana formed in 2016 after the TRS came to power in the new state created in 2014. Addressing a public rally on the occasion, Rao raised the poll pitch asking the Telangana voters to choose wisely, “and not be deceived by the BJP flags.” The state is preparing for another bypoll in Munugode in west Telangana where sitting Congress MLA Rajagopal Reddy resigned and is likely to contest from the BJP side.
“You are close to Tandur, a border area with good connections with Karnataka. Some border area people in Raichur had demanded that they be merged with Telangana or provided the same kind of welfare programmes in Karnataka as implemented in our state,” Rao said.
“Why this stepmotherly attitude towards Kalyana Karnataka (KK) region? If it was #Belagavi border issue, entire Cabinet would have come out in defence, why not for us? Does BJP government consider us a part of Karnataka or not? What action have you taken against your MLA who had suggested merger with Telangana?” Kharge asked responding to the statement.
BJP’s Raichur MLA Shivaraj Patil said the Telangana CM should think of the welfare of his own state instead of talking about Raichur. He asked which government would allow even an inch of land to be given to another state, let alone an entire district.
