Senior Congress leader and former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir today exhorted the people of Telangana to question Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the other leaders of the TRS about the rising inflation and unemployment in the state.
He was addressing a meeting with the leaders of some minority communities at Haliya in Nalgonda as part of the party's campaign for the upcoming by-election in the constituency.
The leader said that the prices of petrol and diesel had reached impossible highs despite the significant fall in the prices of crude oil in the global market.
"The Modi government at the Centre and the KCR government in Telangana have both failed to extend the benefit of the fall in the prices of crude oil to the consumers. Instead, both have increased taxes that have burdened the common man. The hike in fuel prices has led to increases in the prices of all essential commodities. The cost of LPG cylinders has soared to an all-time high as well. Both the BJP and the TRS governments seem to have no interest in controlling these hikes. Instead, the Centre has even gone ahead and scuttled any subsidies which could have eased the pecuniary pressures being faced by the people of the nation. Due to the apathy of the Centre and the TRS regime, the lives of the people have become miserable. Therefore, I appeal to the voters of Nagarjuna Sagar to elect Congress candidate K Jana Reddy to punish both the TRS and the BJP for their negligent governance," he said.
Continuing his attack on the CM, Shabbir Ali added, "KCR should come to Nagarjuna Sagar not with a fresh bundle of fake promises ahead of the upcoming election, but with a progress report detailing his performance during the last seven years. Of course, this will not happen as such a report would expose the failings of his government. Nearly 30 lakh youth, out of whom nearly 19 lakh are registered with the Telangana State Public Service Commission, are still unemployed. Lakhs of jobs were lost first due to the Centre's decision to implement demonetisation, and then due to its mismanaged and ill-executed lockdown, last year. KCR had supported both the decisions. He has repeatedly failed to honour his promise of providing one lakh jobs to Telangana's youth. In his second term, the CM cheated the youth with his failure to introduce a long-awaited monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 3,016. Further, even now, though there are 1.91 lakh vacancies in the state's government departments, the TRS regime has repeatedly said that it will
fill 50,000 posts. What about the rest? The regime's lack of interest in addressing rising unemployment issues has become clearer than ever through this strange promise. This lack of concern for the unemployed is also why neither CM KCR nor any other TRS leaders have even extended their condolences to the family of Sunil Kumar Naik, who
recently took his life after being unable to find a job."
In his bid to garner support for Jana Reddy, he then said, "The people of Nagarjuna Sagar have gotten the opportunity to change the course of history - they have the chance to defeat the TRS and the BJP and punish them for their anti-people ways. The TRS has been winning elections by spending hundreds of crores and misusing official machinery. But today, the constituency has the chance to flag off the process of freeing Telangana from the clutches of an arrogant and inhumane CM and his family by electing Jana Reddy," he said.
Earlier in the day, Shabbir Ali met Moulana Ahsanuddin, Nalgonda head of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind, seeking support for Jana Reddy. In response, Ahsanuddin stated that the body had stood by the Congress since independence, and assured the former minister that he would surely consider the request.