MIM, TRS, BJP Neglecting Old City: Uttam

TPCC President and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy today accused the TRS-led state government, the BJP-led Centre and the MIM of completely neglecting Hyderabad, especially the Old City area, during the last seven years.

He was addressing a series of meetings in the Old City as part of the Congress' campaign for the upcoming MLC elections in the graduates' constituency of Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar. The candidate for the seat, G Chinna Reddy, and other party leaders were also present.

They first performed a puja at the Maha Kali Temple in Lal Darwaza, and later addressed a meeting with the Congress cadres of Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Bahadurpura and Yakutpura at the Famous Function Hall, located near Charminar. They also met various leaders of the Shia community.

"Both the MIM and the TRS have neglected not only Hyderabad but also the Old City. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has never once visited the Old City in the last seven years. Neither has he held a single review meeting since 2014 to understand or resolve the problems being faced by the residents of the area. This, despite having made a promise to the residents that he would develop the region as the next Istanbul. Graduates from the Old City have no job opportunities. The few who do often face discrimination at their places of works due to their area of residence. The CM however has not done anything to ameliorate the residents' problems," Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged.

He also alleged that the KCR government pretended like the the Old City did not exist, and said, "The CM did not even sanction one project in the area since he came to power in 2014. Projects like the Charminar Pedestrianisation and the Musi River Rejuvenation remained incomplete due to shortage of funds and the lethargy of government officials. KCR, in collusion with MIM chief Asadudin Owaisi, did not even allow the area to be connected to the rest of the city through the metro rail. The Hyderabad Metro Rail, the biggest one in the country, was a project started by the previous Congress regime. According to the plans of our party, the Old City was to be equipped with metro rail services. However, the TRS and the MIM altered the routes and did not allow this to happen. The residents are, therefore, forced to spend large amounts of their time and money on transportation."

The MP then pointed out that the Old City had huge potential for tourism, and faulted the state government for not making any efforts in this regard.

"No efforts have been made to improve the roads and other facilities in the area. The TRS is simply not interested in the affairs of the Old City. Similarly, the MIM, which represents the area in the Parliament, the state's Assembly and the GHMC, showed little urgency to develop it. Both the parties clearly want the Old City to remain backward and slum-like," he said.

"Why hasn't the TRS developed Hyderabad as the next Dallas, and the Old City to resemble Istanbul? It should not make such promises if it has no intention of keeping them," Reddy added.

The Centre too was unable to escape the Congress leader's wrath. He said, "The Centre has not done anything to ameliorate the problems of the people of Hyderabad, and has refused to release a single rupee under any scheme for the city's development. While it harbours dreams to change the name of our capital, it has shown an utter lack of interest in the city's development," he said.

Urging the graduates of the area to "unite and bring change", the TPCC head then asked them to support the Congress in the upcoming MLC elections, and asked them to vote for the party's candidate for the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar constituency, Chinna Reddy. He promised that Chinna Reddy, if elected, would bring an end to the exploitation of the TRS, the MIM and the BJP.

The Congress leaders later addressed a meeting at the Musheerabad constituency.