Build 20 lakh houses before seeking votes: KTR dares Minister Ponguleti

BRS working president KT Rama Rao challenged the Congress government to fulfil its promise of constructing 20 lakh Indiramma houses before seeking votes. He accused the government of failing to implement election assurances and demanded a White Paper on housing in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao challenged Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy to fulfil his promise of constructing 20 lakh Indiramma houses before seeking votes from the people. In a strong counter to the Minister’s recent remarks that the Congress would seek votes only after providing 20 lakh houses, he questioned whether the Minister had the courage to stand by his commitment.

In a statement, Rama Rao said making loud challenges and later escaping responsibility had become a habit among Congress leaders. He demanded that the Congress government implement every assurance made in its election manifesto to prove its sincerity and commitment. “Do not make hollow promises. If you have the capability, fulfil your promises and show results to the people,” he said.

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Reminding that the previous BRS government delivered dignity and quality housing for the poor, he said the double-bedroom housing scheme introduced by the BRS had become a national model. He stated that nearly one lakh double-bedroom houses were constructed in Hyderabad alone during the BRS regime.

Drawing a comparison with the proposed Indiramma housing scheme, Rama Rao said each double-bedroom house was equivalent in quality and scale to seven Indiramma houses. “We built houses of dignity and pride that were spacious and respectable homes, not tiny box houses with poor standards,” he remarked.

He dared the Congress government to build better double-bedroom housing projects in Hyderabad instead of merely criticising the previous BRS government.

The former Minister criticised the Congress government for allegedly demolishing houses while failing to build new homes for the poor. He demanded that the government release a White Paper detailing the number of houses constructed and demolished in Hyderabad over the last two-and-a-half years.

“You are deriving pleasure from demolishing people’s homes every weekend, and yet you speak about housing with arrogance,” he added.

In a political broadside, Rama Rao ridiculed Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy over his past statements. He accused the Congress leadership of corruption, land-related blackmail, misuse of the revenue system and favouring family-linked companies.

The BRS leader stated that the Congress government was attempting to divert public attention from its failure to implement its six guarantees and 13 election assurances. “The BRS will continue exposing the Congress government’s ‘420 promises fraud’ and hold it accountable before the people of Telangana,” he asserted.