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On a two-day whirlwind tour of Hyderabad, Congress President Rahul Gandhi exuded confidence that Narendra Modi would be defeated in the general elections next year, and K Chandrasekhar Rao would exit as Telangana Chief Minister in the State polls that would be held simultaneously. He foresaw a grand alliance of parties ousting the BJP-led NDA alliance at the Centre.
Rahul reiterated his charges against the Modi government, attacking it over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, demonetisation, GST implementation, and the unkept promise of jobs for the youth. The Congress chief charged the Modi government with corruption, creation of an atmosphere of insecurity, and failure on all fronts.
Rahul’s itinerary on Tuesday included a closed-door meeting with industrialists, an hour-long interaction with journalists, a visit to the Gun Park, Telangana martyr’s memorial, and two public meetings of Congress workers.
Launching a scathing attack on the KCR government in Telangana, Rahul said it indulged in big promises, but had not delivered. The CM was only redesigning earlier schemes devised by the Congress and claiming credit, the Congress chief alleged. Even the Modi government was guilty of the same. Even after four years, the dreams of the people of Telangana were far from being fulfilled, he said.
The Nehru-Gandhi scion said the Congress would come to power in Telangana, and was the only party that could deliver on its promises. The TRS government had failed to provide the promised one lakh jobs to youth, three-acre plots to Dalits, 2BHK houses to the poor, and help to the farmers.
Immature, says KCR
Responding to Rahul’s accusations, Chief Minister KCR termed them “immature”. “He should not read a script written by somebody, but should know the facts and ground realities. The TRS will win 100 seats in the Assembly and will announce its candidates in September. The party will not have alliances with anyone.”
The Telangana CM also said family rule in the State was better and beneficial to the people than the dynastic rule in Delhi. He was responding to Rahul’s allegation that graft was all-pervasive in family-ruled States and Telangana was a major example.
Referring to the upcoming polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan and the probable early elections in Telangana, Rahul asserted that the Congress would be able to defeat the BJP and the TRS. In the general elections, Modi would not be able to win because the party would not be able to repeat its performance of 2014. Also, within the NDA, partners like Shiv Sena were against the Prime Minister, and the Telugu Desam Party had parted ways.
On the Rafale deal and favouritism to Reliance Defence, a group company of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, which has a debt of ₹45,000 crore, Rahul said he was not against big corporates as long as they do business professionally and legally.
He reiterated that French President Emmanuel Macron had told him that the Rafale deal did not have a secrecy clause on pricing; he alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had been lying on the matter.He also alleged that the Modi government was trying to cover up the corruption involved under the guise of a secrecy agreement with France.
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