hyderabad
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is on the threshold of re-writing history in the South by securing a hat-trick win in the ensuing Assembly election in Telangana with the blessings of people and by banking on the progress achieved on all development and welfare indices during the last nine-and-a-half years, BRS working president and Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Friday.
“Unlike the Congress and BJP, which depend on money bags from Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat, we (BRS) purely depend on people’s support. By banking on the progress card of the BRS government for the last 10 years, we seek people’s support one more time. We have already completed the first round of enlisting support in most of the constituencies already,” he said in a chit-chat with reporters here on Friday.
He ridiculed Congress claims of “winning 70-75 seats this time” stating that it has no candidates for about 40 constituencies, including in about 25 in the GHMC (Hyderabad)-Rangareddy area and in many districts too. Citing the example of combined Medak district, Mr. Rama Rao said that the Congress has candidates only for two seats as of now.
The BRS working president said that the Congress was on the look-out for those coming with money bags. “One Congress ticket aspirant whom I know told me that he would get ticket for Kukatpally seat by giving ₹15 crore to the party and keeping ready another ₹10 crore for poll expenses. I could not say anything but wished him good luck,” he said.
On surveys predicting a win for the Congress this time, he said that the same agency had predicted 65 seats to Congress last time and they went wrong as BRS secured 88 seats. “It’s a good omen for us,” he noted. On talks of a hung Assembly, Mr. Rama Rao said that poll history since 1956 (United AP) always showed that people have given a clear verdict every time.
For middle-class
When asked about the manifesto, he said it would be with top priority to farmers, and more welfare for Backward Classes, tribals and minority communities. He hinted at a unique intervention to cover middle-class families this time. On the 2018 manifesto, he admitted that they could not deliver some promises such as unemployment allowance and they would explain it to people. But, they had implemented 90%-95% of the promises made, he claimed.
On facing the B-team allegation both from Congress and BJP, he said, “We have ambitions to grow as a national party and there’s no need to align with anybody with such plans starting with Maharashtra”. He stated that BJP would not cross the single-digit this time too.
On Ponnala Lakshmaiah quitting Congress, he said that he would go and meet him personally if he was willing to work with BRS and said they need to be careful about pooling in senior politicians as accommodating them with respectable positions would be a big task.
