T-Congress Vows To Give Priority To Goud Community

At a meeting organised by the Telangana Gouda Sangam at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and party leaders Shabbir Ali, Ponnam Prabhakar, Madhu Yashki Goud and Boodida Bikshamaiah Goud, were among several Congress leaders who spoke.

Addressing the Goud leaders, Reddy said that the Congress had always shown concern for the welfare of the Gouds, and that it would give adequate priority to the Gouds in the upcoming elections, too. He assured the community that once the Congress came to power, it would bring toddy under the purview of the Khadi Board and remove it from under the Excise Department. He also announced that the Congress would allocate Rs 20,000 crores and 10 acres of land to the Goud community, and vowed to erect a Sarvai Papanna statue on the Tank Bund or at another important place.

He alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was showering only "fake" love on the BCs, and demanded that the government allocate seats to the BCs on the basis of their population if it truly was sincere in its claims.

Speaking on the occasion, former MP Ponnam Prabhakar said that when the Congress was in power it had given top priority to the Goud community both politically and financially, and alleged that the current TRS government was suppressing the toddy tappers in Telangana. He exhorted the Gouds to strive to bring the Congress back to power.

Madhu Yashki Goud, too, alleged that KCR was anti-toddy tappers and anti-poor, and asked the Goud community to strive to defeat the TRS in the upcoming elections by launching a movement like the Telangana statehood agitation. He also alleged that KCR was attempting to divide the BCs by categorizing some amongst them as MBCs (Most Backward Classes), and exhorted the Gouds to strive to unite all BCs. He claimed that the Congress alone would do justice to the entire BC community. He said that AICC chief Rahul Gandhi and leader Sonia Gandhi had an understanding of the Goud community's professional problems, and assured them that the problems would be included in the Congress manifesto.

Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana Council Shabbir Ali alleged that the KCR government was harassing toddy tappers. He wooed the community by claiming that various subsidies and schemes had been outlined for the benefit of the toddy tappers in the Congress manifesto.

Leaders of the Gouda Sangam submitted a memorandum to Uttam Kumar Reddy on the occasion.