Karimnagar Mayor wants BJP chief to accept FM’s challenge

Either Sanjay should take part in the debate by accepting challenge or step down from his party president post as well as MP post, said Y Sunil Rao

Karimnagar: Karimnagar Mayor Y Sunil Rao demanded that the BJP state president and local MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar accept the challenge thrown by Finance Minister T Harish Rao for an open debate in Dubbak over Aasara pensions.

The BJP president should accept the challenge if the information about central government’s share in Aasara pension being circulated on various social media platforms by BJP as part of Dubbak by-election campaign is true, Sunil Rao said while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.

Either Sanjay should take part in the debate by accepting challenge or step down from his party president post as well as MP post. Sanjay Kumar, who misguided Karimnagar people during 2019 parliament elections, was again trying to cheat Dubbak voters by spreading false statistics about pensions. While participating in Dubbak by-election campaign, Sanjay Kumar was telling the people that BJP led union government was contributing Rs 1,600 to state government’s Rs 2,000 Aasara pension.

Mayor termed it as false. While the state government was spending Rs 11,724 crore to provide pension to 38.40 lakh people every year, a meager amount of Rs 210.96 crore was being contributed by the union government. In order to provide financial assistance to helpless people, Telangana government was providing pensions to old age, physically challenged, widows, HIV patients, Beedi workers, single women, and filarial patients.

However, no BJP ruled state was providing such pensions. Talking about Hyderabad floods, Sunil Rao blamed BJP leaders for resorting to cheap politics instead of mounting pressure on the union government to announce a flood relief package. The BJP MP failed to get a single rupee for the state.

Despite the state government request, the central government has not announced a flood relief package. However, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced a Rs 550 package to protect flood affected people. When asked about bathukamma arrangements, the Mayor informed that light, barricades, drinking water facility and other arrangements have been made at playing and immersion points in corporation limits.

He appealed to the women to play bathukamma by taking precautions to protect themselves from Covid-19.

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