Divisive politics will be crushed: KTR
Warns against any attempt to disrupt social harmony in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: TRS working president and Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao waded into the electoral battlefield on Thursday armed with an arsenal of missiles against the opposition and backed it up with a battery of facts and figures on why the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will return to power in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
“It all boils down to choosing between divisive politics and decisive policies, a fight between a gully party and a Delhi party and pitching for inclusion against exclusion,” Rama Rao said, participating in a “Meet the Press” event organised by the Hyderabad Press Club here.
Setting the tone for “Battlefield GHMC”, the TRS working president, at the outset, was unequivocal in stating that the pink party was going it alone for the December 1 election. “There is no alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for the GHMC election. The TRS is contesting all the 150 divisions, and we are, in fact, confident of winning 10 seats in old city, double the number we won last time,” he said, taking the wind out of the BJP sail that has been harping on the alleged politics of appeasement by the ruling party.
The TRS government, he said, had ensured all-round development of the capital having spent a massive Rs 67,000 crore over the last six years. “And this was done without burdening the people with taxes. The TRS government focused on addressing basic needs and amenities of people besides improved efficiency that increased the State revenues to serve people better,” he said.
Rama Rao said the TRS government had come to power in the newly-formed Telangana State amid a lot of apprehension and false propaganda spread by its detractors over the development of the State. He recalled that there was uncertainty in some parts of Hyderabad as well in this regard as rumours were spread that the city would witness communal clashes as well as law and order issues if the TRS came to power.
“But the TRS government proved all of them wrong. We focused on addressing people’s needs and allayed their apprehensions through strict maintenance of law and order. We addressed major issues of power shortage, and Hyderabad has become a hotspot destination for investments. All this was possible only due to the vision of one man — Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao — who developed Hyderabad into a role model worthy of emulation by others. He displayed extraordinary maturity and provided progressive leadership to develop the State, especially Hyderabad, on all fronts,” he said.
The TRS working president said the State government had addressed issues pertaining to drinking water, ensured uninterrupted power supply, improved sewage treatment and garbage collection, among various other initiatives. He pointed out that the government had worked towards decongestion of arterial roads by developing link roads, flyovers and underpasses, besides implementing several welfare measures. He said over 4.7 lakh LED streetlights were installed within six months in the GHMC limits conserving about 30-40 per cent power.
He maintained that the State government had developed multi-purpose function halls, model markets, vaikuntadhamams, sports complexes, modern bus shelters, parks, including theme parks and dog parks, and above all constructed over 8,000 new public toilets with some of them exclusively for women. “We developed all these amenities in the city without even burdening the common man. We have not increased property tax, water bill, electricity charges, trade licence, stamp duty or registration fee,” he declared.
Even as he reeled out the string of developmental initiatives, the Minister struck a serious note and warned that any attempt to disrupt the social harmony that Hyderabad enjoyed or any move to cause a dent to the brand image of Hyderabad would be crushed with an iron hand. “The TRS government will not tolerate any attempt to disturb the social fabric of Telangana and its economic engine, Hyderabad,” he asserted.
Laying out the TRS government’s blueprint for an even better Hyderabad, Rama Rao said the State government had plans to decongest the city and promote integrated townships under the ‘Live, Work, Learn, Play’ concept along the Outer Ring Road (ORR). He also shared his plans to shift all the pollution-causing industries outside Hyderabad city as well. He said plans were afoot to decentralise development by promoting investments in various parts of city.
The Minister said the State government had established 370 basti dawakhanas across Hyderabad and serving about one lakh urban dwellers every day. He pointed out that the government was also offering free diagnostic services to the poor by establishing a diagnostic hub at the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Narayanaguda and developed eight sample collection centres across the city to conduct the tests.
“If people agree with what I have said, I urge them to bless the TRS with their votes. But if they find me wrong, they can also punish us,” he said.
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