Uttam Kumar Reddy Accepts KTR's Challenge, Again

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N Uttam Kumar Reddy once again accepted the challenge posed by IT Minister K Taraka Rama Rao by announcing that he would quit politics if the Congress failed to win the next elections in Telangana.

Addressing a massive public meeting at Parkal on the 13th day of the Congress Praja Chaitanya Bus Yatra on Friday, Reddy said that he had seen KTR's statement in some newspapers challenging him to leave politics in case the Congress lost in 2019. He said that although he had replied to KTR's challenge in the past, he was reiterating the announcement that he would quit politics if his party failed to come to power in Telangana in the next elections.

"Today is the 13th day of our bus yatra and so far we have covered 23 Assembly constituencies. Based on the overwhelming response which we got throughout the yatra, I can comfortably that the Congress will sweep the next polls. The rising Congress wave will reduce the TRS to a non-entity in Telangana politics," he said.

He said that he had served the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot and had protected the country on the China and Pakistan borders, and would serve the people of Telangana with the same dedication and commitment.

Reddy described the TRS rule as a "rakshasa paripalana" (devil's regime) wherein Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his family were living lavish lifestyles on public money while the common people were suffering. He said that the four crore people of Telangana had lost all their hopes on the TRS government after KCR had failed to fulfil any of the promises he had made to them. Neither the reservations for Muslims and STs, nor the free double bedroom houses for poor people, nor the free land to dalits were delivered, he said. Despite such a poor performance, the KCR government had adopted a highly arrogant attitude. The expulsion of Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and S A Sampath Kumar from the Assembly was the result of such arrogance, he claimed.

The TPCC chief warned officials, especially the police personnel, against harassing the Congress workers. He said that the Congress was all set to come to power in the next elections, and those harassing the Congress activists would face severe consequences. He promised all the Congress workers that the entire leadership was with them and would rush to their rescue if they faced any problems.

Reddy also informed the huge crowd about the various schemes that the Congress would implement after coming to power, including waiving off crop loans up to Rs. 2 lakhs in one single shot and economic empowerment of women associated with 6 lakh Self Help Groups. He also announced that lakhs of new jobs would be created, and that unemployment allowance of Rs. 3 lakhs would be given all jobless youth.

He also informed that the bus yatra would be halted for a day on Saturday in view of the demise of Khammam DCC president Aitham Satyam. The yatra would resume on April 8, and meetings would be held in Dornakal and Mahabubabad as scheduled, he said.

The meeting, organised by Eagala Venkatram Reddy, was also attended by senior leaders including Nandi Yellaiah, Shabbir Ali, S A Sampath Kumar, Ponnam Prabhakar, Jeevan Reddy, Ramohan Reddy, Akula Lalitha, Gudur Narayana Reddy, Donthi Madhava Reddy, Indira Shobhan, Vijaya Rama Rao and other leaders.