KCR will achieve hat-trick, will be CM again: KTR throws down gauntlet

Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and Telangana industries minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday declared that K. Chandrashekar Rao would be the next chief minister of Telangana and dared the Opposition to declare their candidates for CM.

On the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, KTR said the population-based delimitation would spell gross injustice for the southern states.

Stating that BRS would face the 2024 general elections in the name of KCR, the minister said, “Our leader, who is already the longest serving chief minister, will achieve a hat-trick and will be the chief minister again.” He added that he would love to see if the Opposition parties declare their CM candidates.

KTR predicted a resounding defeat for the Opposition parties and a 90-100 seats victory for the BRS in the upcoming Assembly elections. “With just three Assembly seats, the BJP is close to becoming extinct in Telangana. We will win Dubbaka, Goshamahal, and Huzurabad seats, too, this time. The present MLAs will not return to the Assembly,” he said.

‘Delimitation gross injustice for southern states’

On the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, KTR said the population-based delimitation would spell gross injustice for the southern states. Stating that India must think of better alternatives, he gave the example of the US and said, “For instance, in the US, there is a two-senator system for each state whether the state has a higher or a lower population.”

He asked, “Why is the southern part of the country that contributes 36% of India’s GDP penalised for being prudent and states like Uttar Pradesh with their increased number of MP seats with the sheer strength on unwieldy population dictate terms on us in the Parliament?”

He further argued that in the future if Hyderabad had more seats compared to lesser populated districts like Adilabad, the people of that district could protest the misrepresentation. “Hence there must be a way out, a healthy debate on the dangers of making population as a benchmark for devolution of taxes,” KTR said.

KTR hails Telangana Model

The minister hailed his recent 15-day visit to the UK and US as a success that resulted in jobs and investments for the state.

“We have done a great job for the state. We have secured 42,000 new jobs, and Rs. 36,000 crores in investment during this visit,” KTR said and added that the BRS government fulfilled its promises of securing justice for Telangana on all the three fronts — water, employment, and funds (Neellu-Niyaamakalu-Nidhulu).

He said the 21-day-long celebrations to mark the 10th Telangana Formation Day would highlight the holistic, inclusive, and balanced development of the state in the past nine years. “I believe that the intelligent voter will not leave the rupee note in hand for coins on the ground,” he said.

While pointing out that only the able and stable government under the leadership of KCR could ensure a bright future for the people of Telangana, he acknowledged that health, education, and infrastructure sectors required more impetus.

‘Investigate ORR contract’

Meanwhile, KTR dared TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy and BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao to prove their allegations on the ORR contract issue. He said the issue was sub judice as the MAUD had served a defamation notice on Revanth Reddy and the IRB company served notice on Raghunandan Rao. “The government is open to any investigation. Let the Enforcement Directorate or CBI investigate us. But we appeal to both parties to substantiate their allegations,” he said.