People of Telangana have faith in Congress: Mallikarjun Kharge

Terming “welfare a permanent template” of his party, and accusing BRS, BJP, and AIMIM of a deal, Kharge asserted that Congress would wrest the state from BRS

The Congress was responsible for the creation of Telangana but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) “misrule” and corruption shattered the Telangana dream, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said. Terming “welfare a permanent template” of his party, and accusing the BRS, BJP, and AIMIM of having forged some sort of deal, Kharge asserted to HT in an interview the Congress would wrest the state from the BRS. Edited excerpts:

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge (PTI)

Your party is claiming that it was Sonia Gandhi who gave Telangana state to its people — but the BRS has taken the credit and won two terms on this plank. After 10 years, what makes you confident that people will believe in your claims? On December 9, 2009, the Congress party stated that it was committed to the formation of Telangana and the process of bifurcation started. Sonia Gandhi made this possible. However, our dreams and plans of a prosperous and progressive Telangana were shattered by the misrule of BRS’s rampant corruption. In the last 10 years, KCR’s family wealth has increased by 400%; on the other hand, total debt of the state too has increased by over 400% and is presently over ₹5.5 lakh crore. People here want change, and the Congress Party can alone bring that change. The BRS understands the growing discontent, and the faith people have in the Congress. The prospect of losing is forcing them to attack us.

The Congress has been making a set of promises in all states. Is this going to be a permanent template? Will we see a set of promises or guarantees in the Lok Sabha and upcoming polls too? Welfare is a permanent template of the Congress party. We implemented all promises made in Karnataka. Four out of five guarantees were rolled within 100 days of coming to power. Similarly our six guarantees here in Telangana have caught people’s attention. And we will implement all our guarantees within 100 days of being sworn in.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has launched a number of populist schemes including Rythu Bandhu and Dalita Bandhu, a loan waiver, houses for poor... What is the Congress strategy to counter the popularity of these schemes?The BRS government led by KCR has failed to implement any promises made to Dalits, and it is now deceiving the community with Dalita Bandhu scheme. The scheme is limited to only the BRS cadre, and even they have paid at least ₹3 lakh to MLAs as bribes. The BRS is running a sample government because every scheme is given out on a sample basis. KCR has failed to implement his manifesto promise of providing farm loan waiver of up to ₹1 lakh and providing irrigation to 100,000 acres in every assembly constituency. While INC built 2,289,829 new houses for the poor in Telangana between 2004-14, the BRS promised to construct 260,000 2 BHK houses within two years in 2016, but even 20,000 houses have not been given to people till date.

The area adjacent to Odisha is the ST belt of Telangana and is also a strong base for the Congress. KCR has launched a scheme to give land to ST families to woo them. Do you think you can retain your ST base?KCR had committed to distribute 1.15 million acres of podu (commons) lands for tribals in the assembly on 10th February, but he backtracked on the promise and now aims to distribute only a small fraction of the promised land to a handful of tribals, even though nearly 414,000 tribals have applied.

KCR’s Haritha Haaram project is creating conflict between forest department and tribals because it forcefully evicts tribals from podu lands. The Congress has a track record of ensuring tribal rights are upheld along with their sustainable claim over forest produce and which is why tribals all across India have strongly aligned with the Congress and are rooting for us.

One of the key issues for Madiga (an SC tribe that accounts for half the SCs in the state) is related to categorisation. How does the Congress plan to go about this since the move has national implications? The Congress is committed to SC sub-categorisation. After government formation here, the Congress will definitely work on it. The BJP and the BRS have both been in power at the Centre and in the state for two terms and have done nothing except fooling the people .

The BRS has come out with a poster that says “Scamgress” to highlight the alleged scams of the Congress. KCR is relentlessly attacking Congress leader Revanth Reddy. The BRS is resorting to these cheap, dirty tricks because it is gripped by the fear of defeat. It knows it will be routed in Telangana. We have taken a strong objection to the BRS for making false allegations and have lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (ECI). We are confident of getting justice in the court of people.

The Congress has become a marginal player in some states, and has lost out to regional parties. Here. you seem to have revived your Telangana unit. How? That is a completely wrong assumption. Look at what happened in Karnataka and in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. There are a few states where we have been out of power for sometime but we are slowly regaining our ground there. Telangana was one such place but people have always had a special place in their hearts for the Congress. KCR succeeded in hoodwinking the people of the state briefly, but not any more.

In your meeting with civil society, many people were sceptical that your MLAs would defect to the BRS, as has happened in the past. While choosing our candidates, we attached a lot of premium loyalty to the party. There are many who joined us from other parties and some among them have become our candidates. I’m confident that we will get a huge majority on our own. And we will give a stable government to the people of Telangana. Those who had defected in the past are now struggling to save their deposits.

Your poll promises will incur a big cost to the state exchequer. How can you effectively manage the Telangana economy which has suffered badly during Covid? The BRS government has squandered and siphoned off nearly ₹10 lakh crore . It’s a government that is saddled with scams and has indulged in wasteful expenditure in its two terms; that money will be diverted towards the welfare of the people and implementation of the six guarantees. We have a track record of good governance.

The AIMIM has a large base of Muslim voters. How does the Congress plan to woo minority voters? The AIMIM is a party which has its headquarter in Telangana where there is a sizeable minority presence . Why are they contesting only nine seats? Clearly to help the BRS! But BRS has consistently aligned with the BJP in the past, and will ally with the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections. That is the deal which has been inked. That is why we saw action against AAP leaders in the Delhi liquor scam case but nothing against BRS people. The BRS has been helping the BJP at all important junctures. The AIMIM contested over 90 seats in Maharashtra, and 100 seats in UP. In fact, the party contests on large number of seats where there is a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP. They help the BJP by dividing minority votes. And this nefarious plan is not lost on people. Therefore, I strongly believe since the Congress party and our group INDIA is fighting the BJP head-on, people won’t vote for either the AIMIM or the BJP and will instead give the Congress a chance to implement our six guarantees and make the dream with which Telangana was formed a reality.