Telangana Assembly Elections: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday hit out at Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao saying that although he calls himself secular, he still works with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also released a 12-point ‘SC, ST Declaration’ for the upcoming elections that are scheduled later this year.
Addressing a public meeting at Chevella near Hyderabad, the Congress president said KCR never spoke about the unity of secular parties to defeat the BJP. “You call yourself a secular party here. But, you are in cahoots with BJP from inside there,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
Kharge further alleged that as many as 26 opposition parties have come together to fight against the Modi government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but Telangana CM who calls himself secular has not attended even a single meeting.
Releasing the poster of the Congress party’s ‘SC, ST Declaration’ – a set of 12 promises of the party – Kharge said that it will be implemented once the party comes into power. Earlier, the party had announced ‘Farmers Declaration’ and ‘Youth Declaration’.
According to the declaration, reservations for SCs will be increased to 18 per cent, while it will be hiked to 12 per cent in case of STs. The party also promised Rs 12 lakh financial help to SC and ST families in the state, besides special reservations in government procurements. Reservations will be implemented for SC, STs in private educational institutions and in private companies availing incentives from the government, it said.
The ‘ST, SC Declaration’ of the Congress is to counter the campaign of ruling BRS over its ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme (grant of Rs 10 lakh to a Dalit family to start a business or trade of their choice).
The Congress president also hit out PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for questioning the Congress party’s contributions to the country.
Kharge then went on to highlight the Congress party’s contributions, including the unification of princely states and making of the Constitution after Independence, irrigation projects initiated during Nehru era, nationalisation of banks and the promotion of computers during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister.
“Who gave IIT, who gave IIM, who gave AIIMS, who made ISRO, who made DRDO, who made HAL, who made ONGC, who made SAIL. We built so much of public sector,” he asked.