Rahul Gandhi attacks CM Chandrasekhar Rao: 'Was Telangana formed only for benefit of your family?'

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, asking him whether the state was formed only for the benefit of his family.

Addressing a public meeting here, Gandhi said while it was not possible to fulfil the dreams of Telangana people in three years, the state government had not made the “right beginning” and it was not going in the “right direction”.

Targeting his family—his minister-son K T Rama Rao, daughter and Lok Sabha member K Kavitha, and nephew and Minister Harish Rao, without naming them, he asked if students and farmers fought for the creation of Telangana for a “single family”.

“Has the state been created just for four people,” Gandhi said, and alleged that the chief minister was not taking along with him students, youth, women and backward classes.

Only contractors and land mafia are benefiting. The Congress vice-president addressed the public meeting on the eve of the third formation day of Telangana.

The UPA government formed separate Telangana, though there was opposition to the move, as it understood the pain of Telangana people and their yearning for a bright future in their own state.

However, the dreams of the people for a separate state are not being fulfilled now, alleged Gandhi.

The venue of the meeting had immense sentimental value for the Congress as it was at the same location where Indira Gandhi kicked off her election campaign in 1979-80 and went on to win back the prime minister’s post.

Congress leaders who spoke ahead of Gandhi hoped that the public meeting would herald a change and repeat history to bring the party to power.

The NDA government at the Centre and the TRS government in Telangana should stop making hollow promises and instead deliver on them.

Saying that the biggest challenge in the country is massive job creation for the youth of the country, Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Rao have to answer the question about who will create this job.

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“If Modi and KCR won’t reply to the question, Congress will answer it (when it comes to power,” he said.

Gandhi charged the chief minister with “snatching” MPs, MLAs from the Congress and other elected representatives. “Do you want to waste your strength and future with the four member family? What kind of Telangana is being formed. Is it ‘bangaru’ (golden) Telangana?” he asked.

The congress vice-president said 2,855 farmers have committed suicide in the three-year tenure of the TRS government, including 100 in the chief minister’s constituency.

“Farmers have given their blood and sweat for creating Telangana. They did not do so for creating a graveyard,” Gandhi said.

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He claimed the Modi government promised to give two crore jobs to the youth every year but the Centre, in reply to a query in Parliament recently, admitted that unemployment is highest in the past seven years.

Similarly, the Telangana chief minister promised to give one job to every family in the state but did not keep his word.