Alleging that the Congress was not at all serious about fighting with the BJP, the BRS working president KT Rama Rao said the national party has fielded dummy candidates in constituencies where key BJP leaders are in the fray.
Addressing the media, Rao said: “We will ensure that the BJP is defeated and they will not win a single seat. Only the BRS is powerful enough to stop the BJP. Last time the BJP won one seat that is Goshamahal but we will not ensure their defeat this time. The Congress has fielded a dummy candidate at Goshamahal. It has fielded so many dummy candidates like in Karimnagar, Korutla and Goshamahal.”
While controversial Hindutva leader T Raja Singh is the BJP candidate from Goshamahal, its Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar is fighting from Karimnagar Assembly constituency and Nizamabad BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri is in the fray in Korutla and in most of these constituencies BJP and BRS are in a direct tussle with the Congress.
KT Rama Rao further pointed out that it is the regional parties that are actually fighting the BJP. “In Kolkata it is Mamata Didi who is fighting against the BJP; in Delhi, it is Arvind Kejriwal; in Chennai it is Mr Stalin and in Hyderabad. the BRS is fighting against the BJP,” added Rao, dismissing the claims of the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi who often says it is his party which is confronting the Saffron party and its agenda.
The BRS is currently worried by the possibility of a split in the minority votes and does not want the Congress to reclaim the minority vote bank in these elections.
He slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is currently campaigning in Telangana, saying he was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest asset.
“First win your own state Uttar Pradesh and win your own seat,” the BRS leader said to Gandhi wondering why he was bent upon ensuring that BJP gets the advantage in polls.
Rahul Gandhi had met job aspirants at Ashoknagar yesterday evening and Rao was irked by his comments on Telangana’s unemployment crisis, which is a key grievance against the incumbent BRS government.
“Rahul Gandhi has been unemployed since 2014. I will challenge Rahul Gandhi to show me one state which has provided more jobs than Telangana in the last ten years. The Congress in Karnataka had promised one lakh jobs before elections. But even six months after coming to power till date they have not issued a single notification,” said the Industry Minister.
He also lashed out at PCC president A Revanth Reddy for objecting to the release of funds for Rythu Bandhu scheme and disbursement among farmers. Rao wondered why Reddy had not objected when farmers got the disbursed amount under the PM Kisan scheme and also pointed out that Rythu Bandhu was an ongoing scheme in Telangana.