Behaviour of Congress leaders towards Miss England cast shadow on Telangana’s image, says Harish Rao

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the BRS party office at Tigul village in Siddipet district and unveiling a Telangana Thalli statue, Rao held the Congress government responsible for the damage caused to the state's image even after spending crores of rupees to organise the pageant

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao said on Sunday that the behaviour of Congress leaders with Miss England Milla Magee cast a shadow on the image of Telangana and India during the Miss World pageant held in Hyderabad.

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the BRS party office at Tigul village in Jagadevpur mandal of Siddipet district and unveiling a Telangana Thalli statue, Rao held the Congress government responsible for the damage caused to the state’s image even after spending crores of rupees to organise the pageant.

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Rao said the behaviour of Congress leaders, who were close confidants of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, had forced Magee to withdraw from the competition midway. On the other hand, the Chief Minister made multiple visits to the Miss World pageant but not even a single visit to paddy procurement centres, where farmers have been struggling to sell their produce.

“Has the organisation of the Miss World pageant competitions brought any benefit to farmers, youth or women in the state?” he asked.

Accusing the Congress government of denying green manure seeds to farmers due to lack of funds, the former Minister said the same government had spent over Rs 200 crore on Miss World competitions. As Revanth Reddy’s government failed to keep the promises made, the people of Telangana were looking to bring back K Chandrashekhar Rao to power, he said, adding that while the government promised to release the amount for paddy within 48 hours, farmers were not getting the money even after a fortnight.

The land for the party office at Tigul village was bought by the party cadre at their own expense some 24 years ago when the party was founded. The office building was constructed now. Harish Rao felicitated government school teacher Bal Reddy, who has been teaching in a local government school even after retiring from service in 2004 without accepting anything in return.