Injustice To Telangana In Smart Cities: Congress

The Leader of the Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir accused Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu of showing his bias against Telangana by selecting just two cities of the state for the Smart Cities initiative of the Union government.

In a media statement, Shabbir Ali said that Venkaiah Naidu gave prominence to other states including Andhra Pradesh while neglecting Telangana.

Naidu's native state, Andhra Pradesh, had got 3 cities selected for the Smart Cities initiative, and Karnataka, from where Naidu had gotten elected to the Rajya Sabha, got six cities selected. The Centre had also picked more cities from the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Shabbir Ali alleged.

"Venkaiah Naidu has conveniently ignored the fact that the cities and towns of Telangana need focused attention and funds for development as they had been ignored during the time of Andhra Pradesh being united. The previous Congress government at the Centre had granted statehood for Telangana to undo the injustice done to Telangana in the past. However, the BJP-led NDA government is continuing those injustices and neglect," he said.

Shabbir Ali also blamed Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for his failure to get more cities of Telangana included in the list of Smart Cities. He said that the TRS MPs should have made effective representations to the Centre in this regard. KCR himself should have visited New Delhi along with the list of cities that warranted development as Smart Cities.

KCR had in fact promised to get Smart Cities status for Karimnagar and Nizamabad. However, he did not follow through on his promises, Shabbir Ali said.

"The TRS government in the state and the BJP government at the Centre have jointly sabotaged the interests of Telangana," he lamented.

Shabbir Ali said that the people of Telangana would not tolerate the injustice and bias. He said that Venkaiah Naidu should be boycotted for the bias that he had shown against Telangana in the Smart Cities issue.