By Oracle
“All decisions and policies will ensure self-respect of Telangana when it comes to issues that are detrimental to the interests of the State of Telangana in the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.”
Who is saying this?
Anybody would just roll on the floor laughing (ROFL) if you know that this the first postulate of the Common Minimum Program (CMP) announced by the “Praja Kutami” or Mahakutami or grand alliance, the mix of four political parties, on Monday. If voted to power, the kutami would ensure the self-respect of Telangana.
The Congress-led kutami seems to have scored a self-goal by saying so. Who drafted the Reorganisation Bill? It’s the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, led by the Congress. And, the same party, which is leading kutami, obliquely hints that it would act against the clauses that were detrimental to the interests of Telangana.
This is nothing but a candid admission by the grand old party (GOP) of India that the Reorganisation Act was against the interests of Telangana. In such a case, how can it go to people asking for votes? First of all, it should ask for forgiveness by tendering an open apology to the people of Telangana.
After all, it sounds like Devil quoting scriptures.
Inconsistencies between CMP & Cong manifesto
Cleverly, this point went missing in the manifesto of the Congress which was released on Tuesday by former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, RC Khuntia, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, among others. The manifesto committee was headed by former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar C Rajanarsimha.
Jairam Ramesh in fact, donned a key role in drafting the Reorganisation Bill. He wrote a whole book explaining the circumstances and his stand on the bifurcation of Telangana and pleaded “not guilty” of anything that ensued.
Then the CMP talked about the Telangana martyrs. The mixture of four parties vowed to work hard for realizing the aspirations of martyrs.
Who martyred them in the first place?
It was the Congress policies that led to the massacre of 400-od agitators in 1969 and several others committing suicide during the 13-year-long agitation that was renewed under the leadership of KCR in 2001.
Telangana society doesn’t have the culture of installing statues of people. But the Congress-led group of parties, if at all voted to power, would install the statues of martyrs across the State.
The Congress should, at the outset, apologise and own up the responsibility for the death of so many people for the cause of Telangana, before asking for votes.
TS to TG: Does it make sense?
The Congress manifesto announced on Tuesday had a ridiculous mention that TS would be renamed as TG. A national party that was founded by a Britisher and led by scholars has come up with such a naïve decision. KCR wanted it to be called TS meaning Telangana State, for Telangana is one word and one State. What does TG stand for? Is Congress doing any homework at all?
The Congress wants to do away with EPC contracts in the irrigation projects? Who had introduced the EPC contracts and granted huge mobilization advances in the irrigation projects? People’s memory is surely not short.
How many States ruled by the Congress have State Songs? It wants to make a song penned by poet Andeshri as State song. How ridiculous? The Congress wants to strengthen the Lok Ayukta institution and bring the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers under its purview. The Congress is talking like a political naivete as if it is contesting an election for the first time.
It promises to lift cases against all those who participated in the separate Telangana agitation. The TRS Government had largely completed this task long ago. And, just to ask, whose government had foisted or filed these cases against anybody?
CMP, manifesto: mutual contradictions
There is a huge contradiction in the CMP and Congress manifesto. The CMP said the kutami, if voted to power, would fill up one lakh government jobs in the first one year itself and release an employment calendar to fill vacant posts annually.
However, the Congress manifesto said that it would release a yearly calendar for all the job recruitments and fill one lakh jobs in a span of five years. So much of an incoherence and digression in the two manifestos?
Bringing all departments under RTI Act, bringing petroleum products under GST and setting up a People’s Grievance Cell under the supervision of a Senior IAS officer are some of the promises that found a place in the Congress manifesto that make one really laugh.
Many other promises like Rythu Bandhu scheme and farm-loan waiver and all are copycat versions of TRS programs that are already under implementation.
The prominent promises prove that the GOP is suffering from amnesia that it was the perpetrator of all those sins and now wants to make a U turn on them. Is it a result of rubbing shoulders with someone who is derisively being called a U-turn uncle” of late?