Telangana's first enemy: KTR attacks Congress govt over state's decline

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Telangana's ruling Congress government and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, alleging that the state has witnessed a steep decline since the party came to power after a decade of development under former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). He called the Congress the “first enemy of Telangana”.

Since the state’s partition with the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Revanth Reddy has been heading the first Congress government in Telangana after he rose to power in 2023.

Addressing the "Meet the Press" programme organised by the Press Club Hyderabad, KTR described the Congress as the "first enemy of Telangana" and accused the party of repeatedly betraying the aspirations of the Telangana movement.

He claimed that the state had achieved significant progress in agriculture, irrigation, drinking water, education, healthcare, welfare and industrial growth during the previous BRS regime, but was now facing governance failures and policy paralysis.

Calling the Congress government an "utter disaster", KTR alleged that the party secured power through promises it has failed to fulfil.

According to him, farmers, youngsters, government employees, women and several other sections of society have been let down by the administration.

The BRS leader also targeted the state's financial management, claiming that allegations made by Congress regarding debt accumulated during the previous government had been contradicted by recent RBI data.

He alleged that the current administration had resorted to heavy borrowings within a short period while failing to produce visible results on the ground.

On the issue of paddy procurement, KTR accused the Reddy government of neglecting farmers.

He alleged that procurement delays, inadequate arrangements at procurement centres and poor planning had left farmers vulnerable to losses, with harvested crops exposed to adverse weather conditions.

KTR further alleged that the Congress government and the BJP-led Centre were functioning in tandem against Telangana's interests.

Referring to the state administration as a "Modi-Revanth partnership government", he claimed that attempts were being made to weaken the state's free power scheme for farmers through the proposed Farmers' DISCOM or Rythu DISCOM model.

Reiterating BRS's support for farmers, he warned that any move to dilute free electricity for agriculture would face resistance.

He alleged that Revanth Reddy had previously argued that farmers required only limited hours of electricity and claimed that the proposed DISCOM structure was aimed at eventually dismantling the 24-hour free power supply introduced during KCR's tenure.

'BRS TO WIN BIG IN POLLS'

Expressing confidence about the party's prospects, KTR claimed that BRS would secure more than 90 Assembly seats if elections were held today.

He also predicted defeat for Revanth Reddy in Kodangal in the next Assembly election and challenged the Chief Minister to seek a fresh mandate through by-elections involving legislators who had defected from opposition parties.

The BRS leader also criticised the government's Future City project, alleging that it primarily served real-estate interests.

He said a future BRS government would review the project and cancel it if necessary.

The remarks come days after KT Rama Rao challenged Revanth Reddy to declare that he would contest future elections only after implementing all promises made by Congress, including its six guarantees — Mahalakshmi, Rythu Bharosa, Gruha Jyothi, Indiramma Indlu, Yuva Vikasam and Cheyutha.

As the political war of words intensifies, BRS appears set to continue mounting pressure on the Congress government over its election commitments and governance record in the run-up to future electoral battles.