BJP will merge Telangana with AP if given one more chance: KTR

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday said if the BJP was given one more opportunity in the next elections, it would definitely merge Telangana with Andhra Pradesh. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of questioning the formation of Telangana State, he said, “What are the BJP leaders from Telangana doing when Modi speaks […]

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday said if the BJP was given one more opportunity in the next elections, it would definitely merge Telangana with Andhra Pradesh. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of questioning the formation of Telangana State, he said, “What are the BJP leaders from Telangana doing when Modi speaks against Telangana? Do we need a party like BJP which is questioning the formation of Telangana?”

He challenged the Central government to prove if it had done anything at all for Telangana in the last seven years. “If we ask the Centre about this, the BJP leaders start making baseless remarks against us,” he said. Addressing a meeting after laying the foundation stone for Siddpur reservoir at Varni mandal in Nizamabad district, Rama Rao said, “I am challenging the Centre. Can it explain the good work done for Telangana in the last seven years?”

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The Minister said Modi was least bothered about the development of Telangana. “We sometimes wonder whether Modi is the Prime Minister for only Uttar Pradesh or north India,” he said, adding that the Central government granted national status for the Upper Bhadra Project in Karnataka and promised to bear 80 per cent of the project cost.

However, the Centre did not grant the same national status to the Kaleshwaram project and Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation scheme, he said. When Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao sought to know the reasons behind selling LIC, there was no response from the Central government. Instead of focusing on developmental activity, the BJP was trying to divide people in the name of religion and develop hatred among them.

Referring to union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy’s remarks about what development Telangana achieved, Rama Rao asked him to visit the State and know about the 24-hour quality power supplied to the agriculture sector. Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima schemes were also implemented for the benefit of farmers, he said, listing out various welfare schemes introduced in the State since 2014.