Congress will scrap welfare schemes if voted to power: Telangana CM KCR

Palair/ Mahabubabad (Telangana): BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday claimed that Congress will abolish welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu and free power to farmers, if voted to power in the November 30 assembly polls, and said progress of the state will continue if his party was given another term.

Speaking at different rallies, Chief Minister Rao, also known as KCR, asked people to compare the 10 years of BRS rule with that of 50 years of the Congress regime in terms of development.

"If BRS government is voted in, then progress will continue. People will benefit. I request all of you to compare how the rule was in 50 years of Congress' regime and that of 10 years of BRS," he said in Mahabubabad meeting seeking votes for his party candidates.

The chief minister alleged that farmers in Congress rule suffered due to a shortage of fertilisers and also there was a threat of fake seeds, besides no buyers of paddy.

"Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy says Rythu Bandhu is a waste of public money. Another leader, the present PCC president, says three hours of power is enough for farmers. If the Congress wins (in the polls) they say Ram Ram to Rythu Bandhu and Jai Bhim to Dalit Bandhu. People should decide what kind of situation they would like to be in," KCR alleged, hitting out at the grand old party at Palair rally.

The chief minister said people like eminent late agriculture scientist Dr M S Swaminathan and organisations such as the UN also appreciated Rythu Bandhu-- an investment support scheme for farmers, when introduced.

Claiming that he is the one who came out with a scheme like Dalit Bandhu for the first time in the country, KCR further said he is not making any promises for the sake of elections but would like to distribute wealth to the people.

Speaking about the achievements of the state during the past 10 years, Rao said Telangana, with three crore tonnes of paddy production per annum, is number two after Punjab.

The CM, who addressed three rallies today, said if the BRS is voted to power again in the state, all the 93 lakh BPL families in Telangana will be provided fine rice and also health insurance.

He promised that the amounts of social pensions and Rythu Bandhu would be gradually, in a phased manner, increased.

Recalling the days of his struggle during the separate Telangana movement, KCR said he started the agitation with just a handful of people, even though several people downplayed the cause.

Speaking at the rally in Mahabubabad, KCR said elections will come and go, but only people should win polls, not the ones who deceive them.

Stressing the crucial role played by Dharani, the BRS chief said every year the state government has been giving Rs 15,000 crore to farmers without any middlemen or bribes to anyone using the data from the portal.

"If Dharani is abolished, middlemen will come," he said.

Observing that his government has transferred the administrative powers on ownership of lands to farmers themselves (with the introduction of the 'Dharani' integrated land records management system), Rao said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is now talking about abolishing Dharani.

Karnataka farmers are coming here (Telangana) and holding dharnas after their lands are dried up due to the nonavailability of power in the neighbouring state, he alleged.

He said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, also does not provide power for 24 hours to farmers.

Rao said there is no state other than Telangana which has set up medical colleges in each district.

He said all the Tribals in the state have been given documents to Podu lands and also implemented Rythu Bandhu and other applicable schemes.