Telangana pride will bring us back, asserts KTR

KTR counts on three factors: pride, stable governance, and fulfilling promises to win third term for BRS. He discounts Congress hype, says they didn't do any homework on financial implications of poll promises. He recalls most satisfying experience as eradicating fluorosis problem. He couldn't complete skyways project due to lack of cooperation from Defence Ministry. He rules out post-poll alliance with BJP, says BRS will come back with huge majority.

BRS working president and Minister K.T. Rama Rao said he was counting on three factors — Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao invoking a sense of pride among people on Telangana, stable governance and able leadership, and the track record of fulfilling promises, for the third term of the BRS government.

In a freewheeling interview with Editors of newspapers on ‘Telangana Elections Way Forward for Next Decade’, organised by Press Club, Hyderabad here on Friday, he said that people would elect a government that delivers and not that just makes promises. The BRS government’s achievements were recognised in the country and official statistics of various departments proved it. He discounted the hype about Congress winning as just a mind game and it was owing to the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka. Congress took the space vacated by the BJP in Telangana after the Karnataka results.

On the financial implications of the poll promises, he said the BRS had a realistic view of the money to be spent on poll promises unlike the Congress that did not do any homework but was blindly giving assurances.

On his most satisfying experience in the last two terms, he said it was eradicating the fluorosis  problem completely in the combined Nalgonda by providing safe drinking water. He recalled a visit to the house of a fluorosis-affected person as a MLA and later as a Minister, seeing the happiness. “You can’t buy such happiness.”

KTR admitted that they couldn’t tackle the perception factor on employment despite providing highest jobs in the country both in the government sector and private sector. Telangana government had issued notifications for filling 2.32 lakh jobs and of these 1.60 lakh were already filled up. The remaining are in the pipeline. No other State can match these figures.

A project that he could not complete was his dream of constructing skyways from JBS to Tumukunta and Patny to Kandlakoya as there was no cooperation from the Defence Ministry in handing over lands. He hoped a coalition government will help.

The Minister categorically ruled out any post-poll alliance with the BJP irrespective of the outcome. “We will come back on our own with a huge majority.” On a lighter note, the Minister said he fears his father just like any Telangana son irrespective of his stature.