Hyderabad, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the development of Hyderabad hit a roadblock during TRS rule.
Speaking at two road show programmes of ‘People’s Front’ in the city on Wednesday night along with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, he said the pace at which the city should have developed in the last five years had not happened as the wealth of the entire state went into the hands of one family.
Gandhi came down heavily on Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrashekhar Rao for saying he betrayed Hyderabad as his entire focus is on corruption. “KCR stands for Khao Commission Rao,” said Gandhi.
He said Hyderabad had rapid growth and became famous across the world “thanks to the efforts of Naidu and Congress.”
He recalled that after defeat of TDP in 2004 elections, he had acknowledged the role played by Naidu in the development of Hyderabad as information technology hub.
Gandhi said Hyderabad was famous the world over for the unity and brotherhood. “The city doesn’t belong to people of one community or one region. Its doors are open for all. People live here in peace and harmony,” he said.
The Congress chief said the harmony and brotherhood among people was facing threat from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was busy in dividing people and pitting one community against another and one state against another.
At both the events, Gandhi spoke at length about Rafale deal, describing it as the biggest scam. He invited the gatherings to raise the slogan ‘chowkidar chor hai’.
He said after defeating TRS in Telangana, the alliance of Congress and opposition parties would defeat Modi in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Terming TRS and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) as ‘B team’ and ‘C team’ of Modi respectively, Gandhi alleged that both the parties were working to save Modi.
Naidu, who was chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004, recalled his association with Hyderabad. He said even TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao and his son and daughter admitted that the credit for building Hyderabad as IT hub goes to him. He wondered why they had now turned against him.
The TDP chief pointed out how he worked to build Hyderabad as the IT destination by bringing Microsoft and other global players to the city and developed the infrastructure.
Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) leader M. Kodandaram and leaders of Communist Party of India (CPI) also addressed the road shows.
Former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and others also attended the event.
Congress, which is leading the four-party People’s Front, is contesting 94 seats in 119-member Assembly. The TDP has fielded candidates in 13 constituencies. The TJS and CPI are contesting the remaining seats.
