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Telangana elections: Cong and BRS two sides of same coin, says PM
Elections in Telangana are scheduled for November 30, the last in the crucial clutch of assembly polls across five states.
If you vote for the Congress, you will only get a “carbon copy” of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday as he called upon the people of the state to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the November 30 assembly elections.
“Behind the screen, they have a secret understanding. If you vote for the Congress, you will only get a carbon copy of the BRS government. There will be no difference. So, don’t vote for either party,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a massive election rally at Tukkuguda of Maheshwaram assembly constituency on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Elections in the state are scheduled for November 30, the last in the crucial clutch of assembly polls across five states, with results to be declared on December 3.
READ | Modi promises a panel in SC community outreach ahead of Telangana polls
Alleging a four-decade-long nexus between BRS president K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and the Congress, Modi recalled how KCR began his political career with the Youth Congress Party. “KCR started his politics with Congress. He was made cabinet minister by Congress in 2004. He was the only one who went to Congress for Telangana. In the presidential elections, BRS supported Congress against Droupadi Murmu. In the Vice president elections, KCR supported Congress. When it came to the recent no-confidence motion against us he was with Congress. They are true friends. Congress and BRS are two sides of the same coin,” he said.
“They put allegations on each other, yet on the inside, they are together. Every vote given to Congress in Telangana is strengthening BRS...,” he added.
Asserting that the BJP was the only party capable of defeating the BRS, he alleged that “both the Congress and the BRS are afraid of the BJP”.
At Kamareddy, the PM said the winds of change were blowing strongly in favour of the BJP.
READ | BJP may play spoiler for BRS, Congress in several constituencies in Telangana
“The people here want to break free from the past of betrayal. The people here are tired of the BRS rule. They also want freedom from the Congress, which, despite being in power for seven decades, consistently neglected this entire region. This time, the wind is blowing in favour of the BJP,” he said.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress and the BRS, Modi said both the parties shared a lot of common traits and have adopted tricks to cheat the people. “Sometimes, the TRS is abruptly transformed into BRS. This year, the UPA has been transformed into the INDIA bloc. The people of the country understand these manoeuvres very well. Changing names cannot alter their history of corruption, misgovernance, and vote-bank politics,” he said.
“For them, politics is a business to make money through corrupt practices. In fact, KCR has come from the Congress school of politics indulging in corruption. He made irrigation schemes into irrigation scams.”
Modi said while the BJP was strongly opposed to appeasement politics and believed in development of all sections, the Congress and the BRS believed in vote bank politics. He reiterated that the BJP would make a Dalit as the chief minister, if the party is given a chance in the elections.
He also reiterated that his party would do justice to the Madiga community by taking up the SC categorization. “It was only on Friday that I held a meeting with higher officials and asked them to prepare a blueprint on the SC categorisation issue,” he said.
Alleging that the BRS government has become anti-youth, the Prime Minister said it was unfortunate that a youth-oriented state like Telangana was witnessing the most youth-hostile government. “It has betrayed the cause of thousands of youth preparing for public service commission examinations, by allowing leakage of question papers,” he regretted.
Referring to the contest of KCR and PCC chief A Revanth Reddy from Kamareddy, Modi said additionally, these two leaders were contesting the elections from other constituencies as well. “This demonstrates their desperation,” he said. HT tried to reach out to BRS and Congress for comments but didn’t get them immediately .
