The newly-formed Bangaru Telangana Party (BTP) will contest the 2019 elections with enforcement of total prohibition as its main priority.
Speaking to mediapersons on Sunday, Party convener Mohammed Amanullah Khan challenged Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to hold a referendum on the issue of enforcing total prohibition of liquor. If the people voted against prohibition, then he would dissolve his Party. But if they voted for prohibition, the TRS should step down and give an opportunity to others to rule the State, he said.
Khan opined that the Chief Minister had no moral right to speak of a "Bangaru Telangana" if he didn't enforce total prohibition in the State.
He also claimed that the crime rate would fall by 80% if total prohibition were to be enforced in the State along the lines of what the Bihar government headed by Nitish Kumar did (Bihar was declared a dry State from April 2016).
BTP also promises to make wearing a helmet while driving optional if it comes to power. A ban on gutkha and public smoking are among the other issues part of the agenda of the Party. And it vows to clamp down on corruption with an "iron hand".
Khan also alleged that the TRS had bagged a large number of seats in the recent GHMC elections through distribution of cash and liquor (the Party won 99 seats).
Other leaders of the new Party A Satti Reddy, Shaik Raheem and Farooq Bhai were also present.
Amanullah Khan is the person who started the so-called and lofty-sounding Telangana Auto Drivers' JAC and Telangana Two-Wheeler Drivers' Association, with ostensibly little legitimacy. He is known for having repeatedly given calls for bandhs and other threats, which almost never fructified.