MLC Elections: KTR Woos Teachers

Continuing his diatribe against the BJP-led Centre for failing to fulfil the promises made to Telangana during the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, TRS working president and IT and Industries Minister K T RAMA Rao today accused the saffron party of spreading lies about the state government.

Speaking at a program with private college lecturers, he appealed to the teaching community in two graduates' constituencies of Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam and Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy to reject the BJP's candidates in the upcoming MLC elections, and to support the candidates of the TRS instead.

Rao promised them that the party's candidates, Surabhi Vani Devi and Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, would work along with the government to resolve the issues being faced by the teachers in the state.

Trying to solicit support for Vani Devi, who is contesting for the Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy seat, he reminded the gathering that she had been an educationist for many years, and that the educational institutions headed by her had helped a large number of students become graduates.

"Our candidate for the Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy seat, Vani Devi, has many years of experience in the education sector, and will be able to address the problems of the sector in a meaningful way. Her insight and experience will allow her to do so," the minister claimed.

He then attacked the rivals of the pink party - the BJP and the Congress - for resorting to "mud slinging" for political gains, and accused them of failing to address the issues of the people of the state.

"Unlike either the BJP or the Congress, the TRS regime has been recognised nationally for its success in implementing a number of welfare schemes in Telangana. The Modi regime, on the other hand, has been successful only in introducing three anti-farmer legislations. It has not bothered to try and resolve the issue this has lead to even though the nation's farmers have been on the streets, protesting the new farm Acts, for more than 100 days now. Its treatment of Telangana is similar to its neglectful treatment of the farmers. The Centre has refused to sanction projects and release funds to our state, and our repeated pleas for the same have fallen on deaf ears - it is against the development of Telangana," KTR charged.

"The proposed bullet rail project, the Information Technology Investment Region project and industrial parks were all taken away from our state. The BJP leaders in the state too have been unable to get funds, and have not pressured the Centre to fulfil the promises made to our state in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Where are the coach factory and the steel plant we were promised? The BJP leaders at the Centre and in our own state are ignoring the state's development," he reiterated.

Flaying the BJP and the Congress for "slandering" the TRS regime in order to "mislead voters", he asked the leaders of the two parties to refrain from such behaviour, telling them that these attempts to turn the people of the state against the government would not work.

"The TRS will win both the MLC seats as people do not believe the lies being spread by the BJP and the Congress against our government. Everyone knows that we have worked tirelessly for the welfare of the people and for the development of our state, and that the Opposition is only running to the people now to secure votes," the TRS bigwig claimed.

Singling out state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar and TPCC head N Uttam Kumar Reddy for their "false allegations" against the KCR regime, KTR then added, "The leaders of the BJP and the Congress know, as well as anybody else, that we offer schemes for the welfare of the poor, the farmers, the women, the students and many other sections of society. If they do not stop making false claims about our lack of commitment to the people, we too will reply in the same tone."

The tension brought on by the upcoming elections is fairly palpable in the tenor of the speeches being made by the political leaders in the state, who are doing all they can to win over the voters of the six poll-bound districts.