In a veiled reference to leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Sunday, November 26, that leaders from Telangana who are involved in the Delhi Liquor scam will not be able to escape, guaranteeing that “such leaders will go to jail.” The PM was addressing an election rally at Toopran in the Medak district of Telangana, where he specifically attacked BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, alleging that his family members were facing investigations for corruption.
At the rally, Modi also censured the Congress for not having many chief ministers from the Backward Class (BC) community, and reiterated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s promise that if it comes to power in Telangana, a BC leader will be the CM. “They (BC communities) did not get such a chance, which is why the BJP has promised that it will give Telangana its first BC chief minister. BJP will bring social justice,” he said.
The PM’s jibe against KCR’s family being involved in corruption cases was in connection with the Enforcement Directorate’s questioning of K Kavitha, KCR’s daughter and BRS MLC, for her alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor scam. The case pertains to allegations that the Delhi government helmed by Arvind Kejriwal used the excise policy for 2021-22 to permit the functioning of liquor cartels, with some dealers who reportedly paid bribes for it benefitting from it. Kavitha is among the many leaders who have been questioned in the case.
On Sunday, Modi claimed in his speech that there is no difference between both the BRS and Congress. “The Congress pushed for ‘Sultan Shahi’ and KCR has pushed forward ‘Nizam Shahi’. Both are the biggest examples of family dynasty politics. The Congress has looted farmers, soldiers, and the youth. Under their governments, scams have taken place under the guise of farm loan waivers. The BRS is not far away from the Congress in such matters. Also, KCR’s government was not able to conduct the Group-I exams, and lakhs of youngsters are still questioning the government about the unemployment crisis,” the PM said.
The PM also questioned KCR’s move to contest from both the Gajwel and Kamareddy constituencies in the upcoming Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on November 30. Claiming that KCR chose to fight from a second seat (Kamareddy) because he was afraid, he added, “Telangana CM considers it his ‘jagir’ (a grant of a place’s public revenues to a person with power to collect and enjoy them). Why did he go there? The reason KCR did it is due to BJP’s Eatala Rajender and the anger of Telangana’s farmers. He has not let go of any opportunity to cheat people here.”
KCR had announced that he would contest from both seats as early as August when he released the names of BRS’ MLA candidates. His former aide and Huzurabad MLA Eatala Rajender, who joined the BJP in 2021 after being sacked from the state cabinet on allegations of corruption, will also contest against him in Gajwel. In Kamareddy, on the other hand, he will face Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy.
The PM further attacked KCR for his “habit of breaking promises”, alleging that the CM has failed to keep many of his promises. “KCR broke his promise of making a Dalit the chief minister. He broke his promise of providing jobs to youth. He promised water to farmers and broke that too. He promised schemes, but only gave scams. He also promised to work for your children, but has only worked for his own family and children. He has increased his wealth every year,” Modi alleged, further calling KCR a “farmhouse CM” and questioning why he was not meeting the public.
“Does Telangana need a CM who does not meet people? Why does Telangana need this farmhouse CM? For 10 years he ruled from his farm house, and farmers will send KCR permanently to his farmhouse now. Be it the Congress or BRS, corruption, dynasty politics, and bad law and order are the identity of both these parties. That is why both are carbon copies of each other,” he said.
On November 27, PM Modi is expected to undertake a mammoth 166-km road show in Hyderabad as part of the BJP’s campaign rally for the elections. After the polls on November 30, the results will be announced on December 3.
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