Telangana minister KT Rama Rao, who recently got involved in a war of words with former Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai, continued the duel on Friday by throwing a challenge at him.
The matter was triggered on Wednesday (August 31) over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest ‘Mann Ki Baat’ episode wherein he explained how a village in Madhya Pradesh uses ‘bhajan’ events to rope in Anganwadi workers and also feed malnourished children.
Rao, also known as KTR, had said he “seriously hoped it was a teleprompter typo”.
“Bhajan as a solution for Malnutrition! That too coming from PM!…India is ranked at 101/116 on the global hunger index and we need immediate focus and solution for malnutrition, not these comic capers,” KTR wrote on Twitter.
Pai had quickly hit back, asking the minister to show data of his state and what he had done over time.
“You are really a superstar, since you have ruled Telangana for long… Please show action, not point to others, data there in NFHS-5,” the ex-Infosys director tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}“You are really a superstar, since you have ruled Telangana for long… Please show action, not point to others, data there in NFHS-5,” the ex-Infosys director tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}On Friday, KTR, who is the son of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR, took to Twitter to accept the former Infosys director’s challenge, while also hitting out at the BJP-led governments in Karnataka and Gujarat.
“Challenge accepted Mohan. In the next 18 months, you will see a remarkable turnaround in malnutrition stats of my state. Mark my tweet; we will outdo both the 40% commission Govt in Karnataka & Rapist Remission Govt in Gujarat,” KTR's tweet read.
The mention of 40 per cent commission in Karnataka was an apparent reference to BJP leader and former state minister KS Eshwarappa, who came under the radar in April, after contractor Santosh Patil named him in a purported suicide note for abetting the incident. Patil had alleged that the fallen minister demanded commission from ₹4 crore payment that he was to be paid for road work undertaken in Karnataka's Hindalga village.
The Gujarat reference is in connection with the release of 11 life convicts in the Bilkis-Bano rape case under the state’s remission policy.
According to the NFHS-5 report released in March this year, 33.1 per cent of children under age five were found to be stunted, 21.7 per cent were found to be wasted, and 31.8 per cent were underweight.
In Karnataka, 35.4 per cent were found to be stunted, 19.5 per cent wasted, and 32.9 per cent were underweight. The percentages among children under age five for the category of stunted, wasted and underweight in Gujarat were found to be 30 per cent, 25.1 per cent, 39.7 per cent.