Congress Government Backstabbing Farmers: KTR

BRS working president K T Rama Rao today strongly criticised the Congress government in Telangana for "betraying" the farmers and the other people of the State.

Continuing the tradition of paying homage to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the formation of Telangana, the BRS Legislature Party visited the Telangana Martyrs' Memorial (at Gun Park) before attending the Assembly session. BRS MLAs and MLCs paid tributes to the martyrs and staged a protest at the memorial, raising slogans against the Congress government.

Speaking on the occasion, KTR alleged that the Congress had deceived every section of society by failing to fulfill the promises it had made before coming to power.

KTR said that the Congress had promised to implement the guarantees within 100 days of coming to power and had even declared that legal status would be granted to these guarantees in the very first Cabinet meeting after assuming office. However, he said that even after over two years in power, the government had failed to provide legal backing to the guarantees.

He also criticised the government for failing to implement key welfare schemes for farmers. He said that during the BRS government led by KCR, Rythu Bandhu funds used to be credited to farmers before the sowing season. He said that in contrast farmers were now completing their harvests without receiving any support from the government, and there had been no clarity from the State on when the assistance would be released.

KTR also accused the Congress government of deceiving multiple other sections of society. He said that the government had promised a budget allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for weaker sections over five years. With two budgets already presented and the third underway, at least Rs 60,000 crore should have been allocated by now, but there was no clarity on this commitment, KTR said.

He said that the BRS would raise these issues forcefully during the ongoing Assembly budget session and expose the "Congress' betrayal" of Telangana. He also said that the party would question the government during the Assembly session on why it was prioritising political expenditures while neglecting farmers. Particularly criticising the government's alleged plan to allocate Rs 1,000 crore to Rahul Gandhi while neglecting farmers in the State, he said, "This is why we are raising the slogan 'Not Rahul Bandhu, give Rythu Bandhu; Rs 1,000 crore for Rahul, but betrayal for farmers'," he said.

During the protest, other BRS leaders too demanded the immediate implementation of the promises made by the Congress government, particularly the Six guarantees. They also demanded that the government grant legal status to these guarantees and allocate adequate funds in the State budget for their implementation.