The Congress on Friday released a Telangana-specific manifesto, promising to bring back the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) in Hyderabad, implementation of provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014, and re-merging of five villages that were given away to Andhra Pradesh by the BJP government at the Centre.

In the past few days, the Telangana Congress has stepped up its attack on the BJP with a new campaign. Congress leaders have been criticizing the BJP, saying the Centre has only given “gadida guddu” (a donkey’s egg) to Telangana while failing to honour the promises it had made to the youngest state in the past 10 years. The campaign is in line with the one in Karnataka where the Congress has claimed that the state got only a “chombu” or an empty pot from the Centre.

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In its manifesto, the Congress promised to merge the five villages which had opposed the merger of the seven mandals of Telangana to Andhra Pradesh. The seven mandals were given away to Andhra Pradesh by the Centre during the very first Cabinet meeting of the Modi government in 2014 to pave the way for the Polavaram project.

Five of the villages opposed the merger and now the Congress has promised “five gram panchayat villages around Bhadrachalam namely Yetapaka, Gundala, Purushottam, Patnam, Kanaigundem and Pichukalpadu will be merged with the Telangana state to develop Bhadrachalam Sree Rama temple”.

Similarly, the UPA government had promised the ITIR to Hyderabad, but the NDA government cancelled it after they assumed office.

The Congress manifesto also promised to fulfill provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act such as railway coach factory at Kazipet, Bayyaram steel factory, IIM at Hyderabad, rapid railway system by Vijayawada Hyderabad highway, and a mining university.

It has also promised a number of higher educational institutions, new railway lines and industrial corridors. It will also grant national project status to Palamuru Rangareddy project which is a key demand of Telangana. A regional office of NITI Aayog and a bench of Supreme Court are the other key promises made by the Congress in its special manifesto for Telangana.