Telangana Minister for Finance T Harish Rao today said that the Telangana people would teach a fitting lesson to the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming elections, and that the saffron party would meet with the same fate that the Congress had met in the 2014 general election in the State.
Rao was taking part in the BRS Athmeeya Sammelanam at Shivvampet mandal in Medak district.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister reminded the audience of the statement of then combined Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy that he would not grant even a single rupee to the Telangana region, and that the then Congress leaders from Telangana hadn't uttered a single word against Reddy and had remained mute spectators. In the following elections in 2014, the people made the Congress bite the dust, giving an opportunity to the BRS, Rao said.
The BJP government at the Centre had so far collected over Rs 8.89 lakh crore from the people of the State in cess on petrol and diesel during the last eight years, but was refusing to allocate funds and projects to Telangana, Rao claimed.
Representations for funds and projects were made to the union government on several occasions but in vain, he lamented. The Centre had refused to give national status to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), and had denied medical colleges, Navodaya schools, nursing colleges and the railway coach factory among several other projects sought and/or promised to the State, he alleged.
"The BJP is least bothered about the welfare of Telangana, and will meet with the same fate as the Congress did in 2014," he said.