Nearly 10 days after the formation of the new Congress government in Telangana, the state assembly witnessed much-expected fireworks on Saturday with the ruling party and the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi indulging in war of words.
While it was the Congress which had always been at the receiving end in the state assembly and outside in the last 10 years, the BRS experienced it for the first time, as the Congress members, led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy shouted down the criticism from BRS working president K T Rama Rao.
Participating in the debate over the Motion of Thanks for the Governor’s address in the assembly, KTR sought to launch an attack on the Congress government-led by Revanth Reddy.
“I felt ashamed as a member after listening to the speech of the governor. It was like a fox taking a vow not to deceive anybody and a tiger promising not to eat meat hereafter. The Congress had never kept its promises in the past nor can it do in the coming days,” he said.
KTR described Revanth Reddy as a nominated chief minister, not an elected chief minister of the people.
“During the Congress regime in the past, there was no proper drinking water, no electricity and irrigation facilities. Even when Revanth Reddy’s father died in the last, there was no water for even taking bath,” he pointed out.
He said it was only after K Chandrasekhar Rao had become the chief minister of Telangana, the state had become fertile.
“History cannot be erased just because somebody will cover KCR’s name plate at Pragati Bhavan with mud,” he said.
Revanth Reddy shot back at KTR saying the BRS had not learnt a lesson despite the people giving a clear verdict against the family rule of KCR.
“Despite giving an opportunity to rule them for two terms, the BRS members have failed the people. They have no respect for the people’s verdict,” he said.
The chief minister described KTR as an NRI leader, who was imported by his father.
“He has come into politics under management quota. He has no knowledge about the values of democracy. If he continues to brag that only KCR family can save the state, he is disrespecting the people’s verdict. That is why, they have shown the family its place,” he said.
He reminded that it was the Congress who had given the political life to KCR and made him an MP and a Union minister.
“Even Harish Rao could become the minister for the first time during the Congress regime though he was not a member of the assembly,” he recalled.
He said KTR and his party leaders are not able to tolerate when the people had broken the barriers of KCR’s fortress.
“During KCR regime, the common man had no entry into Pragati Bhavan. Even popular balladeer Gaddar had to wait for hours to enter the premises. As soon as we came to power, we removed all barricades and allowed the people. If you see the surge of crowds at the Praja Bhavan, one can understand how much they had suffered in the last 10 years,” the chief minister said.