BRS not even fit for opposition, compromised national security by phone tapping: Bhatti

Hyderabad: Launching a tirade against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu said that the party that only uttered lies all the time was not even fit to be in opposition.

Speaking to the media after inspecting the arrangements being made for a party meeting at Tukkuguda, Bhatti referred to the mind-boggling scale of illegal phone tapping indulged in by the BRS.

“The BRS could not absolve itself of its responsibility for the heinous crime. The communication network that should be used for the nation's security was shamelessly used by the previous ruling party for its personal and vested interests,” he said.

The deputy chief minister said that the BRS exposed the nation's security to great risk by indulging in indiscriminate phone tapping and stooped to the level of eavesdropping into the private conversations of individuals with their family members, listening and recording the phone calls made by businessmen, bureaucrats, Judges violating all norms and guidelines.

“The Congress government would take measures as per the law against those responsible for the damage and trauma, looting caused to various sections of people,” he added.

Rejecting KCR’s allegation about the drought situation, Bhatti said the previous KCR government utterly failed to conserve water during the rains in June last year and irresponsibly released water downstream from Nagarjuna Sagar for a show-off. Due to this water stored in Kaleswaram had to be released due to the damaged barrages because of faulty construction and design of the mega project. Telangana State was going through severe hardships solely because of the grave blunders committed by KCR, he said.

Bhatti noted that the Congress government did not waste a moment in implementing its six guarantees introduced free bus travel and increased Rajiv Arogyasri limit to Rs.10 lakh immediately after the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress govt. Contrary to the expectations of BRS leaders, the Congress government also implemented the guarantees of gas cylinders for Rs 500, free electricity up to 200 units, and announced 3,500 Indiramma houses for every constituency, he added.

The deputy chief minister also said that the Congress government is also determined to sanction Rs one lakh crore interest-free loans to SHGs of women and handed over cheques to DWCRA groups and bills were being released promptly to Anganwadi, ASHA, and mid-day meal scheme workers. Another significant achievement was the release of Rytu Bandhu starting with farmers holding one acre and covering 64.75 lakh farmers so far by crediting the amount into their accounts within three months.

Bhatti reminded that the Congress government did not take eight months to credit the amounts to farmers like the previous BRS government. The State govt had also paid Rs.1,500 crore towards premiums under the Rytu Bhima, he said.

The Congress government gave relief to government employees and pensioners by releasing salaries and pensions on the first of every month. The achievements of the Congress government within three months were many including finalizing the plan for rejuvenation of the Musi river on the lines of the Thames River in London, extension and expansion of Hyderabad Metro rail, providing solutions to Dharani software that left farmers harassed for years with its faulty digitization of land revenue records, he added.

The deputy chief minister said that KCR who came out of slumber after three months from the farmhouse resorted to lies once again about power cuts in the state.

“The BRS government used outdated sub-critical technology for Bhadradri thermal power station and set up Yadadri thermal power station 350 km away from coal mines making coal transport economically unviable and hugely burdensome. Gencos and Discoms collapsed under the BRS govt rule. Yet the Congress government was proud of its measures to streamline the energy sector and ensured there were no power cuts. It readied plans to meet peak demand for power till 2030-31,” he added.

He said the Congress government provided 30,000 jobs within three months. As promised before the elections, TPSC was cleaned up, and reformed and notifications were issued for additional posts including Group I. The Congress government was dealing with the drug menace with an iron hand and committed to making Hyderabad a drug-free city. No one indulging in the drug trade would be spared as the government wanted to make the city safe for children and youth of Hyderabad, he said.