KTR slams Congress over broken promises, says BRS victory march will start from Jubilee Hills

BRS working president KT Rama Rao launched the "Jaitra Yatra" in Jubilee Hills, urging voters to reject Congress for unfulfilled promises. He highlighted welfare schemes under K Chandrashekhar Rao and alleged financial burden on citizens during the current Congress government

Hyderabad: Stating that the Jubilee Hills bypoll was all set to kick off the victory march of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), party working president KT Rama Rao on Saturday appealed to voters to deliver a strong rebuke to the Congress for what he described as a string of unkept promises and mounting public debts.

“The time has come for the people of Telangana to teach the Congress government a fitting lesson for deceiving them,” he said while addressing a large crowd in Jubilee Hills, where he launched the party’s “Jaitra Yatra,” a campaign aimed at reclaiming its ground.

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Painting a grim picture of the Congress’s tenure under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, he said it had betrayed farmers, women, senior citizens and minorities with empty rhetoric. The farmers’ community, which was badly let down, was eager to join the party campaign in Jubilee Hills to teach the Congress government a lesson. So is the case with other sections that were also deceived with false promises, he said.

Recalling the days of the BRS regime under former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, he called it a golden era of welfare.

“We gave free drinking water up to 20,000 litres a month, set up Basti Dawakhanas, provided meals for just Rs 5, hiked pensions, rolled out Ramzan Thofas for fasting families and scrapped property taxes in some spots,” he said, adding that Chandrashekhar Rao had treated the poor like his own kin.

The gathering, organised under a massive pink canopy near Shaikpet, highlighted unfinished roads and stalled projects, including a long-promised flyover in the area. He reminded the voters that Hyderabad’s voters, especially in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), had backed BRS in past elections. On the other hand, the Congress had burdened households financially and ignored the vulnerable. “They’ve drowned citizens in debt and tricked farmers, women and the elderly,” he said.

Rama Rao zeroed in on the Congress’s 2023 election manifesto, which he mocked as a “guarantee card” that quickly turned to dust. Promises of Rs 2,500 monthly for women over 18, free scooters for young girls and a tola of gold for newlyweds remain unfulfilled, he pointed out.

“Pensions remained the same without any hike promised by the Congress. In two years, Revanth Reddy hasn’t laid a single foundation stone or built one house for the poor in Hyderabad,” Rama Rao said, adding that “every morning, he grabs the mic to bash KCR” instead.

He also took aim at what he called the government’s two-faced policies, like free bus rides for women while doubling fares for men.

“They give with one hand and snatch back with the other,” he remarked, advising voters that when Congress campaigners knock on their doors, they should flash their pending bills and ask where those guarantees went.

“The Congress government owes Rs 60,000 per woman under the Mahalakshmi aid programme, Rs 48,000 due to widows and seniors, and vast sums withheld from farmers,” he said, adding that the Congress had let down every community, from backward classes and Dalits to Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

“Promises pertaining to their welfare have not materialised. It’s time to jolt Congress, or they’ll never understand it,” he warned.

“If people keep voting for them after all this cheating, they’ll think it’s fine,” he said, noting that the Congress was wiped out in Hyderabad during the last round of local polls, with zero seats won. Looking ahead to the November 11 by-elections, he said Jubilee Hills was the launchpad for a broader resurgence.

“Telangana’s labourers, farmers and the needy are turning their eyes here,” he said. “Your votes will shape our State’s path. Let’s protect the growth built by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao,” he added.

Earlier, leaders from different political parties, including ex-BJP leader Thota Mahesh from the Shaikpet division, joined the BRS at Telangana Bhavan headquarters, where Rama Rao welcomed them, offering the traditional pink scarf.