Congress: TRS defeat is Sonia gift TRS SAYS DEC. 9 IS NO OCCASION TO CELEBRATE
Telangana Congress on Saturday used the 71st birthday celebrations of party president Sonia Gandhi — the day marks the first official statement from the Centre on the formation of Telangana state in 2009 — to call for a united Opposition effort to defeat the TRS government.
Former Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy said, “‘KCR hatao Telangana bachao’ should be the slogan for every Congress worker. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao does not have minimum scruples in politics and turned betrayer to Mrs Gandhi who granted Telangana state on her birthday.”
Asking all Opposition parties to unite in dislodging the TRS, he said Mr Rao was only known for his rhetorical speeches and promises and did not bother to implement them. He said joining of TD leader Revanth Reddy is part of the Congress’ grand design to unite like-minded people to defeat the TRS.
TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said formation of a Congress government in Telangana state in 2019 would be the best gift for Mrs Gandhi. He said she had gone ahead with statehood despite being warned of serious political consequences.
Former minister Sabita Indra Reddy said while Mrs Gandhi granted statehood for the sake of four crore people, Mr Rao had utilised the opportunity to develop only four members of his family. Mahila Congress president Nerella Sarada said the enthusiasm shown by Congress leaders left her in no doubt that the party would win in 2019. She demanded that the TRS government include Mrs Gandhi’s life history as part of the academic curriculum.
Mr Revanth Reddy, who stepped into Gandhi Bhavan for the first time along with his supporters, said the party needed to build a mass movement with like-minded people and organisations to unseat Mr Rao who, he said, had failed to implement his promises.
He said the removal of Mr Rao should be the second and final phase of the agitation of the people of the region.
He alleged that the Chief Minister’s daughter-in-law, the wife of minister K.T. Rama Rao, was not from the Velama caste. Her father Haranadhara Rao had served with the government for 35 years as an ST, and wanted Mr Rao to either confirm or deny his allegation. As in previous years, the TRS did not celebrate December 9, the day the Centre first announced statehood for Telangana in 2009.
“There is no sanctity to this day. The Centre backtracked and reversed everything on December 23, 2009. Telangana was formed due to the struggle of the TRS and the people and not by Congress people,” said TRS Nizamabad MP Kalwakuntla Kavitha.
Speaking to this newspaper, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari said, “It is ridiculous to celebrate Telangana formation on December 9. Let the Congress do what it wants, but there is no connection between this day and state formation.”
“The Centre had reversed the announcement, which led to unrest and several youth committed suicide. How can the Congress mark the day.” he said.