Nalgonda (Telangana) [India] September 5 (ANI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday challenged Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Leader of Opposition K Chandrashekhar Rao to attend the ongoing Assembly session or resign as MLA and face a by-election in his Gajwel constituency.
Addressing a public meeting in Nalgonda after laying foundation stones for several development works in the Nakrekal Assembly constituency, Revanth Reddy said his government was ready to debate every issue in the Assembly and challenged KCR to participate in the discussions.
The Chief Minister questioned KCR's continued absence from the Assembly and said the BRS chief should quit the MLA post with dignity if he was unwilling to attend the House.
“Employees are dismissed if they fail to report for duty for 365 days. KCR received Rs 22,24,40,000 from the government but did not step out even for a single day. Should he be dismissed or not? Was not the salary KCR received paid from taxes collected from the poor?” Revanth Reddy said.
The remarks come amid an intensifying Congress-BRS confrontation over KCR's participation in Assembly proceedings. The Telangana Congress has also announced a protest demanding that the Gajwel legislator resign if he is unwilling to discharge his responsibilities as an elected representative.
Revanth Reddy said the Congress was confident of defeating the BRS in both Gajwel and Sircilla in the next elections and asserted that his party would retain power in Telangana for a second consecutive term.
“We are ready to settle the matter in Sircilla and Siddipet. Let the Kalvakuntla family brace yourselves. We will give a fitting reply. Let’s settle this in the upcoming elections,” he said.
He said he would visit Sircilla and Siddipet towards the end of September and claimed that the Congress would win 90 of the 117 Assembly seats in the next election.
The Chief Minister also launched a sharp attack on BRS working president KT Rama Rao, accusing the former ruling party of promoting family members and relatives during its decade in power.
He alleged that KTR had humiliated his sister K Kavitha and suspended her from the party, while accusing KCR of remaining confined to his farmhouse.
“Now, the BRS has no future,” Revanth Reddy said.
Responding to criticism over his personal conduct, the Chief Minister said he believed in maintaining “decency and culture” and referred to his invitation to ministers Seethakka and Konda Surekha to his residence to tie him Rakhi.
Revanth Reddy contrasted the distribution of political positions under the BRS and Congress governments, saying the previous government had largely promoted members of the KCR family, while the Congress had given ministerial and other key positions to leaders from different communities.
He cited Seethakka and Adluri Laxman as ministers and said the Congress had also provided opportunities to leaders including Santosh Kumar, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and others in various positions.
The Chief Minister said the Congress government had also appointed Shankar Naik, Addanki Dayakar and Satyam as MLCs and claimed that three people from Nalgonda district had received MLC positions for the first time under the present government.
Revanth Reddy accused the previous BRS government of neglecting weaker sections and said the Congress government was pursuing “people-centric governance” focused on the poor, women, farmers and those who participated in the Telangana statehood movement.
Highlighting his government's performance during its first 1,000 days, the Chief Minister said the Congress government had expanded several schemes rather than cancelling programmes introduced by the previous administration.
He cited the farm loan waiver as an example, saying the BRS government had implemented a Rs 1 lakh loan waiver in four instalments, while the Congress government had waived farm loans of up to Rs 2 lakh at one go.
Revanth Reddy said loans worth Rs 2 lakh had been waived for 25.35 lakh farmers and claimed that the government had disbursed Rs 36,000 crore under Rythu Bharosa in 32 months.
He also highlighted the government's spending on free electricity for farmers, the Rs 500 bonus for paddy procurement and other agricultural measures.
The Chief Minister further attacked the BRS over its record on women's welfare and highlighted the Congress government's Mahalakshmi scheme, under which women are provided free travel on Telangana State Road Transport Corporation buses.
He said the government had spent around Rs 11,000 crore through the RTC on the free travel scheme and procured 1,000 buses, which were leased to the corporation.
Revanth Reddy said women's self-help groups were being promoted as entrepreneurs and were being given opportunities in sectors including solar power, petrol bunks and school uniform production.
He said the government had set a target of making one crore women “crorepatis” by 2034 and highlighted the Indira Mahila Shakti stalls established near Hitech City for women to market their products.
The Chief Minister also recalled the role of students and unemployed youth in the Telangana statehood movement and accused the previous BRS government of leaking question papers and “playing with the lives” of unemployed youth.
He said the Congress government had provided 72,000 jobs in two years. The figure is also part of the government's broader 1,000-day governance pitch, with the state government highlighting more than 72,000 government appointments alongside farm-loan waivers and women's welfare initiatives.
Revanth Reddy further highlighted the distribution of fine rice to 3.48 crore beneficiaries across 1.06 crore ration-card-holding families and free electricity to 50 lakh households.
He said the government had also continued procuring paddy cultivated by farmers and providing Rythu Bharosa benefits.
The Chief Minister said the Congress government would continue its focus on welfare, development and empowerment of weaker sections and reiterated his challenge to the BRS leadership to face the government in the Assembly.
“Let the father, son and son-in-law come to the Assembly, and we will settle the scores,” Revanth Reddy said. (ANI)
Revanth Reddy challenges KCR to attend Assembly or quit MLA post, face Gajwel bypoll
