Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserted on Sunday that a concealed coalition exists between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the Lok Sabha polls. He claimed that his party serves as the true opposition force.
“...Telangana mai BJP aur BRS ki shaadi thi, unki roz waha barat nikalti thi aur drama hota tha (In Telangana, BJP and BRS joined forces; there was a wedding procession every day, with their daily theatrics). The Congress party showed in Telangana that BJP and BRS are one. If anyone is doing the work of the opposition then it is the Congress party,” the Congress leader said in an election rally in Odhisha's Kendrapara.
BRS is not part of either the ruling NDA nor the Opposition's INDIA bloc and is fighting Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party.
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Gandhi said that the ‘5 guarantees’ helped them dethrone BRS and helped to form a Congress government in the state. "We gave five guarantees which gave money directly to the poor people of Telangana in their bank accounts. The leaders of BRS gave full benefit to the selected people. We went there and said that BRS gave the same amount of money to the rich people of Telangana, which the Congress party will give to the poor people of Telangana. The result was that BRS lost, and Congress won the Assembly elections and formed the government," the former Congress chief said.
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi said that the ‘5 guarantees’ helped them dethrone BRS and helped to form a Congress government in the state. "We gave five guarantees which gave money directly to the poor people of Telangana in their bank accounts. The leaders of BRS gave full benefit to the selected people. We went there and said that BRS gave the same amount of money to the rich people of Telangana, which the Congress party will give to the poor people of Telangana. The result was that BRS lost, and Congress won the Assembly elections and formed the government," the former Congress chief said.
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Congress BJP failed to fulfil their promises: KCR
On Saturday, former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao criticised the ruling Congress and BJP for ‘failing’ to fulfill their promises to the people. He urged voters to make his party, BRS, win the Lok Sabha polls to “advocate for the people's interests”.
Speaking at a roadshow in the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency, he accused the Congress of winning power in the state through deceptive promises and misinformation.
Call it a partnership or marriage, BJD and BJP are together: Gandhi
Earlier on Sunday, Gandhi addressed an election rally in Cuttack's Salepur where he alleged that while PM Narendra Modi runs a government for billionaires from Delhi, chief minister Naveen Patnaik leads an administration that caters to "select people" in Odisha.
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Gandhi claimed that although the BJD and BJP were fighting against each other, they were actually together.
"Call it a partnership or marriage; both BJD and BJP are together," he asserted.
Taking a jab at Patnaik, Gandhi said that despite holding the position of chief minister, the BJD government in the state is being managed by his aide VK Pandian.
In an apparent reference to PM Modi, Gandhi said, "Uncle-ji and Naveen-babu have given Odisha PAANN, meaning Pandian, Amit Shah, Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik. They have looted your wealth."