Will Trounce KCR In Kamareddy: Shabbir Ali

Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Wednesday claimed that he would register a historic victory from the Kamareddy constituency against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Shabbir Ali was accorded a grand welcome on his first visit to Kamareddy after KCR announced his candidature from the constituency. Hundreds of villagers and prominent Congress leaders from the district met him and expressed their support.

Speaking on the occasion, Shabbir Ali said that KCR's decision to contest from both Kamareddy and Gajwel gave the people a chance to make him lose twice.

"KCR let down the people of Telangana for two terms. He didn't keep his election promises, and took advantage of different groups. So he deserves not just one defeat but two defeats. Luckily, KCR himself created this opportunity by letting the people reject him in both Gajwel and Kamareddy," Shabbir Ali said.

"KCR habitually changes constituencies because he never remains accessible to people after winning the election. Not a single voter from Gajwel was able to meet KCR for their problems in the last nine years. The people of Gajwel have therefore decided to defeat him in the coming elections, and so he is contesting from both Gajwel and Kamareddy this time. But the people of Kamareddy too have made up their minds to teach KCR a fitting lesson," he added.

Shabbir Ali said that KCR should apologize to Kamareddy's people for neglecting them over the past decade. He claimed that under the Dalit Bandhu scheme all dalit families in KCR's native Chintamadaka were given Rs 10 lakh, and that KCR should not enter Kamareddy before giving a similar Rs 10 lakh assistance to all the dalit families in Konapur village of Bibipet mandal, which he claimed was his parents' native village.

He also demanded that KCR fulfill his previous promise to provide irrigation water to 1.5 lakh acres of Kamareddy's farmers. He also urged KCR to allocate Rs 5,000 crore for the completion of Packages 21 & 22 of the Kaleswaram (Pranahita Chevella) project, and called for the cancellation of the Kamareddy Master Plan and the provision of Rs 50 lakh to families affected by the Master Plan agitation.

Shabbir Ali additionally requested an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of Rs 120 crore in the construction of the Collector's office and other projects. He said that of the 24,000 applications received for the free double bedroom houses, only 1,500 units were constructed, and those too were in a dilapidated condition. He said free houses should be distributed to all the 24,000 applicants.

He said that KCR should not enter Kamareddy before fulfilling all of those promises.

Shabbir Ali also expressed disappointment that the Mudiraj community had been overlooked by KCR. He said that none of the 115 BRS candidates were from the Mudiraj community.

Speaking about the upcoming battle between him and the CM, the Congress leader said that it would not be easy for KCR to defeat a 'Kamareddy bidda' in his own 'adda'.

"I was born and brought up in Kamareddy. The people of Kamareddy elected me as MLA in 1989 and 2004, and both times I became a minister. I was elected as MLC and also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. Even KCR, in the Council, admitted my contribution to the development of Kamareddy, including the achievement of constructing a water grid to get safe drinking water. Unlike KCR, I'm not a nomad who ventures into new areas in search of green pastures. I stayed with my people even after losing the elections. I did not change my constituency or even think of doing that. Because the people of Kamareddy do not ignore their own people. KCR will learn about this in the coming elections," he said.

The Congress leader announced that he would intensify his campaign in Kamareddy in the coming days, and reiterated his confidence that he would register a landmark victory.