Floods, 'Chaiwala' Remark & Economy: TRS, BJP Engaged in War of Words Ahead of Hyderabad Civic Polls

The ruling TRS and opposition BJP in Telangana were on Thursday engaged in a war of words over assistance to flood victims here and other issues in the backdrop of coming polls to the city civic body. TRS Working President and state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao accused the Modi government of not releasing any funds to the state to provide assistance to the victims of recent heavy rains and deluge in the city.

The BJP hit back, slamming Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for hurling “chaiwala” barb against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over privatisation of railways. With the announcement of the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on December 1, the TRS has stepped up its attack on the BJP, which recently upset the ruling party by bagging the Dubbak assembly seat in a bypoll.

Rama Rao, son of the chief minister, dared BJP leaders to list out what the NDA government at the Centre has done for Hyderabad during the last six years. Addresssing a Meet the Press programme here, he alleged the BJP only talked about “Hindu-Muslim”, “MIM-TRS” and “India-Pakistan”.

While Telangana people paid Rs 2.72 lakh crore by way of taxes to the Centre inthe last six years, the state received only Rs 1.40 lakh crore through Central devolution, he said. He was responding to claims of BJP leaders that the Rs 67,000 crore development works by the TRS government in Hyderabad had been carried out with the help of the Centre.

Rama Rao also claimed that the country’s economy was now faced with a recession, preceded by a slowdown for eight consecutive quarters prior to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. “Eight consecutive quarters of slowdown has led into a lockdown which has now led into a recession. That’s a fact. They may call it an act of God. I would call it an act of fraud, absolute fraud. What they have done, what they have perpetrated on this country, is an act of fraud, without a question,” he said. The TRS leader said he would leave the matter to the party chief (Chandrasekar Rao) when asked if the latter’s comments of convening a conclave of opposition parties against the disinvestment and “anti-farmer” farmer policies of the NDA government would materialise or if it was just a knee-jerk reaction to TRS’ loss to BJP in Dubbak bypoll.

He said the voters should decide whether they wanted “divisive politics” or “decisive politics”. Claiming that that some were trying to sow the seeds of animosities in the state, he asserted that the TRS government would put down with an iron hand any attempts to hurt the brand image of the city.

State BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar took exception to the Chief Minister’s comments on Wednesday that Modi who described himself as a ‘chaiwala’ was now selling the railway station (privatisation of railways). “It is shameful that the Chief Minister talks about PM, a great person who is making efforts to build India as a strong nation, in an insulting way. Shameless chief minister,” he said at a party meeting.

Rao who ‘thinks’ about 30 crore Muslims in the country was supporting AIMIM and trying to ‘handover’ Hyderabad to the latter, Kumar claimed. “Is he bothered about the Hindus in Telangana?” he asked.

Finding fault with the disinvestment and “anti-farmer” policies of the NDA government, Rao on Wednesday said he would soon convene a conclave of opposition parties in Hyderabad to fight against the Modi regime.

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