The Congress party that ruled the country for decades remained a mute spectator to the injustices meted out to the Telangana, said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao In his marathon reply in Assembly on Sunday during a short discussion on `Telangana – development during the last nine years’, he reminded the members of the brief history of Telangana at various stages.
“It was late PM Nehru who forcibly merged Hyderabad state into Andhra Pradesh much against the wishes of people here. Those opposed were brutally handled and even killed,” Mr KCR reminded. The Congress leaders of the region did not utter a word in favour of the aspirations of the Telangana people when the Andhra leaders continued their discrimination against the Telangana region. The Andhra Pradesh last chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy openly challenged in Assembly that he would not give a single rupee to Telangana come what may. None of these Congress leaders raised their voices. When their leader Renuka Chowdhary mocked the demand for separate Telangana, none of these leaders protested.
“Telangana was subjected to tyrannies and its people were humiliated time and again. It is all recorded in history and cannot be erased,” Mr KCR pointed out. The Telangana region bloomed under the BRS regime and its people got back their self-respect. They witnessed a qualitative change in their lives. The BRS government has embarked on a massive exercise of undoing all the wrongdoings of Congress and successive governments in Telangana. With great perseverance and determination, the new state was brought to the stage where it now stands tall in the country.
Mr KCR said one could take any parameter and measure the development here. The most important indicator that is adopted the world over is Per Capita Income. The per capita income of Telangana is Rs. 3.12 lakh while that of Andhra Pradesh is Rs. 2.19 lakh. The leaders of Andhra Pradesh who spit venom and showed utter disregard for the people of Telangana proved their mettle in this aspect. They are nowhere near Telangana in any parameter. Be it development or welfare.
What all the Congress and its leaders did to Telangana was only leave it in the doldrums and threw its people into chaos and confusion. “There is desperation and hopelessness all over. People were vexed and lost their will to live. They are no more hopeful of good days when I with a group of like-minded began the journey for separate statehood to Telangana,” Mr KCR reminded.
From the hopelessness, it was very difficult to awaken the people and galvanise them into action. After a consistent and protracted struggle, a compulsion was created for the then-ruling Congress party where it had to budge to the popular demand. “Telangana state is no charity of Congress party. It is the will of the people that is behind the creation of separate Telangana,” CM KCR said. The planned development and countless welfare programmes aimed at upliftment of people will ensure more seats for BRS party in the ensuing general elections, he asserted.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao