Hyderabad: Telangana‘s minister for information technology and ruling party working president KT Rama Rao alleged on Thursday that bitter rivals Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have joined hands for the upcoming municipal elections in the state.
During an informal chitchat with the media, KTR also said that the BJP had won four Parliament seats in the state last year out of luck and now it doesn’t have candidates for the 700-plus wards.
“In most of the places, the BJP and Congress are in an understanding and supporting each other. It is shameful on their part,” the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader said.
The elections to 130 urban local bodies (ULBs) will be held on January 22, while counting of votes and declaration of results will be on January 25. The BJP is hoping to use these polls as a springboard to launch itself as the no. 2 party in the southern state, behind the TRS and overtaking the Congress.
KTR, son of chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), expressed confidence that his party would win a majority of the municipalities and corporations. He said the TRS government has done its best for the development of urban local bodies in the state over the past five years and is planning to provide Rs 216 crore every month to municipalities like the Rs 339 crore being released for gram panchayats.
“We have succeeded in providing drinking water to every municipality. All of them are open-defecation free (ODF) and aiming for ODF-plus status (which includes solid and liquid waste management),” he said.
The minister said implementation of the new Municipal Act is the biggest challenge in front of him as he holds the portfolio of municipal administration and urban development.
“This is a comprehensive Act for the urban population of Telangana. It gives liberty to the people as well as punishes them if they violate the rules. It is applicable to officials also. Officers who commit mistakes can be removed from service,” he added.
The BJP’s Telangana unit chief spokesperson K Krishna Saagar Rao alleged that the TRS has "stooped to a new low" in these municipal elections to threaten, kidnap and physically attack BJP candidates across the state. “KTR is flying kites even after Sankranthi with his comments on BJP,” he said. “KTR should reflect and course correct on what TRS is transforming into, a ‘rogue party’ manipulating and abusing power for winning election after election.”
Protests are still going on in several parts of the country, including Telangana, over the BJP-led central government’s contentious efforts to change India’s citizenship process and weed out illegal immigrants. Reacting on the matter, KTR said, “India is not a religion-based country. We clearly told our party to stand on the floor of the House. Our government did not receive any communication related to NRC and NPR. After studying the issues, we will clear it.”
He said the BJP has to rethink on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as the people of the country are protesting against it. “They could push through legislation on Triple Talaq and Article 370 without any problems,” he said. “So, why this on CAA?”
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