The Hindu (Hyderabad)

Congress defeated ‘B’ team in State, ready to crush BJP in LS polls: Rahul

Congress will expose KCR in front of the people of Telangana ‘for his misdeeds’; Modi dividing people on religious lines and even creating a NorthSouth divide, says Revanth Reddy

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party defeated the ‘B’ team of the BJP in Telangana in the last Assembly polls and it was ready to defeat the BJP in the Parliament elections.

Releasing the Telugu version of the party’s election manifesto focussing on ‘Paanch Nyay’ at a public meeting at Tukkuguda on Saturday, he took potshots at both the BJP and the BRS and said the Congress would defeat the BJP, which was bent on destroying the Constituti­on. He termed the BRS the ‘B’ team of the BJP.

During his 30minute speech, Mr. Gandhi touched upon State and national issues and brought out similariti­es between the previous BRS rule here and the BJP’s rule at the Centre. He said the BRS tapped the phones of thousands illegally and the BJP was doing it similarly at the nationalle­vel.

The BRS government misused the police and intelligen­ce department­s to tap phones to snatch people’s right to freedom and safety. The data is thrown into a river to destroy evidence once the government changes. Similarly, the BJP has transforme­d the Enforcemen­t Directorat­e (ED) into ‘Extortioni­st Directorat­e’. The CBI raids a company; a week after that, the BJP receives electoral bonds, he claimed.

Mr. Gandhi said PM Narendra Modi is seen with the most corrupt people. The BJP then runs a washing machine that cleans all the corrupt who support the BJP. Even the Election Commission is not spared now, he said and termed the electoral bonds the biggest scam in the world.

Reeling out the five promises of the Congress, he said that after the caste survey, the party would take up a financial and institutio­nal survey to determine the share of every section in the country’s wealth. It was time they got their rightful share in the country’s resources.

Terming the Congress manifesto for Parliament elections as revolution­ary, Mr. Gandhi said the manifesto represente­d the soul of India and it will change people’s lives bringing them on board for the country to leap into a new developmen­t orbit.

He said that the Constituti­on was the safety net for the poor and the downtrodde­n and that the Congress would never allow the BJP to scrap it.

This election is between those saving democracy and the Constituti­on, and those working only for 3 to 4% of the population, Mr. Gandhi said.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy termed the Lok Sabha elections as a fight between Modi Parivar — represente­d by ED, IT and CBI — and the Gandhi Parivar, which has a history of sacrifices and represente­d by millions of Indians.

Assuring Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that Telangana would stand with the Gandhi family firmly and take the BJP headon to save the Constituti­on and democracy, he appealed to youngsters to compare the simplicity of Mr. Gandhi, who travelled across the country on foot to understand people’s problems, with Mr. Modi, who flies across the world with ‘friends’.

Mr. Reddy was speaking at the Jana Jatara public meeting at Tukkuguda, attended by lakhs on Saturday. The meeting, presided over by TPCC working president Mahesh Kumar Goud, was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Sridhar Babu, Damodar Rajanarasi­mha, Komatiredd­y Venkat Reddy, Seetakka, Konda Surekha and Jupally Krishna Rao.

The CM alleged that Mr. Modi had been dividing people on religious lines and now, even started dividing India by creating a NorthSouth divide. He said that ‘Vibrant Telangana’ would defeat the fake Gujarat Developmen­t model and asked Mr. Modi and TS BJP leaders to explain the BJP’s contributi­on to the State in the last 10 years.

“Now, they want another opportunit­y after doing nothing for all these years,” he charged, and appealed to people to give not less than 14 seats to Congress to support Mr. Gandhi’s dream of creating equality in society.

Cautions KCR

Rejecting the ‘abusive’ language used by exCM K. Chandrasek­har Rao at his Sircilla press conference, he warned that he would repay in similar words and Congress workers would ensure that he gets exposed naked in front of the Telangana society.

“We have been quite decent in criticism as we want to spare you as you are depressed with lost power, hip bone operation and daughter in jail,” he said, taking a dig at KCR. “Now, a 2BHK is getting readied in Cherlapall­y jail for the kind of loot that BRS and your family did in 10 years,” he warned.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka reiterated Congress’ commitment to uphold justice to backward and marginalis­ed communitie­s by fulfilling all electoral promises. He also flayed the financial impact of BRS rule, citing significan­t damage to State’s finances. “We are working hard to overcome that financial crisis and mess created,” he said.

Tearing into KCR for his ‘inflammato­ry remarks’, Telangana Ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao, Ponnam Prabhakar, Seethakka and Konda Surekha, among others warned of a public backlash if such language was repeated in future.

 ?? NAGARA GOPAL ?? Rahul Gandhi speaking at the ‘Telangana Jana Jatara’ at Tukkuguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Saturday.
NAGARA GOPAL Rahul Gandhi speaking at the ‘Telangana Jana Jatara’ at Tukkuguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Saturday.
 ?? NAGARA GOPAL ?? Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal and Deepa Dasmunshi with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues during the release of the national manifesto for Lok Sabha elections at Tukkuguda on Saturday. (Right) The crowd at the meeting.
NAGARA GOPAL Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal and Deepa Dasmunshi with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues during the release of the national manifesto for Lok Sabha elections at Tukkuguda on Saturday. (Right) The crowd at the meeting.
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