State Bharatiya Janata Party president G Kishan Reddy here on Tuesday appealed to the Congress governments in the State and at the Centre to expedite the process of carving out separate Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh into two States by tabling Telangana Bill in Parliament immediately. He also appealed to all the political parties to come forward in solving the decades’ old Telangana issue in conformity with their poll-eve promises and help restore peace and political stability in the State.
Addressing party district presidents, incharges and office-bearers at the State party office, Kishan Reddy said that both the ruling party and the main Opposition Telugu Desam were rejected by the people in the bye-elections held in the State in the past two years and the electoral verdict has clearly proved that both the parties forfeited confidence of the people. As there was no alternative to both the major parties in the State, the people voted for the YSR Congress party in some Assembly constituencies, he added. He also pointed out that his party had won one of the two Assembly seats in the Telangana region in the bye-elections caused by the resignations of some legislators on the Telangana issue.
Stating that there were plenty of chances of the party gaining strength in the State in the near future, he appealed to the party activists and leaders to respond to the people’s problems in their districts at once and help solve them. Stating that the people’s plight was indescribable on account of malfunctioning of the Congress government in the State, Reddy said the people have doubts whether there was any government at all in the State as there was no coordination between the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues and between the ministers and officials. He said that the Supreme Court, High Court, CBI and ACB serving notices on the ministers, interrogating them and several officials along with ministers landing in jails was irrefutable proof of rampant corruption and maladministration in the State.
The BJP leader bemoaned that the situation in the State has come to such a pass that the farmers along with their family members were on the roads for procuring seed due to the failure of the government. While the government claimed that it had arranged 13.87 quintals of seed for supply to the farmers for the kharif season, it could provide only 5.55 quintals of seed till June 16. Besides, the greedy dealers were selling fertilizers and seed in black market at exorbitant prices, he said. Though the government had enrolled 5.5 lakh tenant farmers under the “Rythula Rakshana Hastham”, not even half of them were able to get crop loans, he added.
Describing the new Excise policy as “old wine in new bottle” Kishan Reddy criticized the government for choosing to auction liquor licences. Instead of prohibiting belt shops, the government continued them for purpose of filling its coffers, he lamented. He also charged the Congress government with breaking backbone of the common and middle class people in the country by hiking petrol price by Rs 7.50 per litre at one stroke. Pointing out that the Congress-led UPA government had hiked petrol price for about 33 times, he expressed fear that the spiraling prices of essential commodities would gallop further.
The BJP leader also charged the State government with playing with the lives of the people by increasing bus charges, power and water tariff, milk price, profession tax, service charge, property tax, registration charges and so on. He also said that the State government remained mum even as middlemen were looting toiling farmers by procuring foodgrains at throw-away prices.
Lashing out at the government for diverting SC, ST funds and affecting their welfare, he claimed that the people in both urban and rural areas were trekking miles to fetch a pot of water for drinking. The life of all sections of the people has become unbearable due to the indifferent attitude of the Congress governments, he said, adding that the party workers should go to the aid of the poor and help strengthen the party and make it an alternative to both the Congress and TDP. (NSS)