Hyderabad:

As Telangana reels under devastating floods, a slugfest has broken out between Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and former minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR.

KTR has questioned why the Congress government in the state could not arrange choppers for rescue work. He has drawn a comparison with adjoining Andhra Pradesh, where Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu managed to put six choppers and 10 boats on rescue duty.

“Appalling attitude by the government in handling the flood situation across the state! Situation in Khammam is even worse. There are three ministers from Khammam region but zero help to the people there. Tired of the apathy, public took to streets. They are demanding basic assistance and help,” KTR posted on X as the flood situation worsened.

6 rescue helicopters and 150 rescue boats being used by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh @ncbn Govt

Guess how many Helicopters and Boats our Telangana CM was able to manage to save lives?

A BIG ZERO#CongressFailedTelangana

— KTR (@KTRBRS) September 2, 2024

“6 rescue helicopters and 150 rescue boats being used by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh @ncbn government. Guess how many helicopters and boats our Telangana CM was able to manage to save lives? A BIG ZERO,” said the BRS leader, also the son of party leader and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The BRS leader also targeted the government over Rs 5 lakh compensation announced for the flood victims. “You demanded Rs 25 lakh compensation while in opposition. Now will you give Rs 5 lakh and throw up your hands?,” he asked.

The remarks drew a sharp response from the Chief Minister, who led the Congress to a stunning victory in Telangana last year, ending the nine-year term of the KCR government.

Accusing the main Opposition of mudslinging and playing politics during the calamity, Mr Reddy told the media, “KCR did not get out of his farmhouse and KTR is merrily tweeting during his holiday in the US.” The Chief Minister said he and his ministers are working on the ground to assist people. Mr Reddy has been visiting flood-hit areas and putting out messages to assure the people that the government stands by them.

State minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said the state government has documentary evidence to show that choppers could not fly to the affected areas due to bad weather.

At least 16 people have been killed in Telangana floods so far and property worth Rs 5,000 damaged. Chief Minister Reddy has urged the Centre to declare floods in the state a natural calamity and provide immediate assistance of Rs 2,000 crore. The state government has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the families of those killed in the calamity and Rs 10,000 per acre assistance for crop damage.

State minister for Women and Child Development Seethaka has countered the BRS’ criticism on the compensation amount. “Why didn’t they give Rs 25 lakh to the flood victims when they were in power? Leaders who have been in power for 10 years and did not give a penny in compensation are spreading poison,” she has said.

Hyderabad:

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao, under fire for his alleged derogatory remarks about women, today appeared before the Telangana Women’s Commission in response to a summon. During his visit, a few members of the commission tied a rakhi to KTR which has now sparked a fresh row. 

The state women’s commission has issued a notice to its members for tying a rakhi to KTR. Women’s Commission chairperson Sharada Nerella in a post said six members were engaged in an “inappropriate act” by tying a rakhi to the BRS leader, adding that “engaging in any such conduct that may raise questions about the neutrality of the Commission is entirely unacceptable”.

Ms Nerella directed the Secretary of the Commission to immediately issue notices to the involved members and initiate stringent disciplinary action against them. She said “Such behaviour is not only unbecoming of the Commission members but also compromises the dignity and impartiality that we are bound to maintain.”

**Press Note**

**Telangana Women’s Commission Condemns Inappropriate Conduct by Commission Members**

Hyderabad, 24th August 2024:

It has come to the attention of the Telangana Women’s Commission that six members of the Commission engaged in an inappropriate act by tying a…

— Sharada Nerella (@sharadanerella) August 24, 2024

KTR expressed regret and apologised again for his comments about women travelling in state-run RTC buses. Providing an explanation for his statement, KTR acknowledged that such statements were inappropriate and should not have been made by someone holding a leadership position of his stature. The Commission accepted his apology and directed him to refrain from making any such remarks in the future.

Telangana Women’s Commission, in its commitment to safeguarding the dignity and rights of women, had issued summons to K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) garu on 16/08/2024 in response to derogatory comments made about women travelling in RTC buses. KTR garu appeared before the Commission as… pic.twitter.com/6uNiGl8pi7

— Sharada Nerella (@sharadanerella) August 24, 2024

“I personally appeared before the Telangana State Women’s Commission as directed by the Chairman Sharada Nerella. I expressed regret for my remarks made without any intention on women before the Commission,” he said. 

He also briefed the Commission about the attacks on the women in the last eight months after the Congress government came to power in the state. 

ALSO READ | “Offer Unconditional Apology”: KTR Says Sorry For Remarks On Women

KTR’s Remarks Spark Row

Addressing his party workers on August 15, KTR spoke about women utilising the state’s free bus travel scheme which was introduced shortly after the Congress came to power in the state this year. He said women travelling on these buses could “do break dances” if they wished, adding that the BRS had no objection if women engaged in activities like knitting while on the bus as long as busses were safe. 

KTR’s comments were viral on social media and kicked off a political storm in Telangana. Women’s rights activists, political opponents, and the general public took to various platforms to condemn the remarks.

Telangana Minister Danasari Anasuya, known popularly as Seethakka, was among the first to demand an unconditional apology from KTR. “Is this the culture of respect your father taught you?” Seethakka asked.

Mr Rao, however, posted an apology on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating that he never intended to offend women and expressed regret if his words had caused any harm.

“I am sorry if our sisters were offended by the comments made in the party meeting yesterday. I never meant to offend my sisters,” KTR posted.

The state Women’s Commission also took a note of the remarks, announcing their own inquiry.

ALSO READ | Telangana Women’s Commission Orders Probe Into KTR’s Remarks

Hyderabad:

Taking strong exception to BRS MLAs joining the ruling Congress in Telangana, BRS leader K T Rama Rao on Monday said his party had seen similar defections in the past when Congress was in power and that the grand old party had to eventually “bow down”.

Responding to BRS MLA from Jagtial, Sanjay Kumar, switching loyalties to Congress on Sunday, Mr Rao, who is working president of BRS, said the power of people is always stronger than the people in power.

“We have faced several defections of MLAs in the past in 2004-06 when Congress was in Government. Telangana responded strongly by stepping up the people’s agitation & eventually Congress had to bow its head. History shall repeat itself,” Mr Rao said on ‘X’.

The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) suffered yet another setback on Sunday as Mr Kumar joined the Congress.

Mr Kumar was welcomed into the Congress fold by Chief Minister and PCC president A Revanth Reddy, party sources said.

He is the fifth BRS MLA to join the Congress. A doctor by profession, Mr Kumar was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the second time.

Mr Kumar joining the Congress came close on the heels of senior BRS MLA and former Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy switching over to the grand old party on June 21.

Earlier, BRS MLAs Kadiam Srihari, Danam Nagender and Tellam Venkat Rao joined the ruling party.

Besides these MLAs, several other BRS leaders, including Hyderabad Mayor Vijaya Laxmi R Gadwal, have also joined the Congress.

There have been speculations that more BRS MLAs would join the Congress in the days to come.

BRS had won 39 of the total 119 Assembly seats in the elections held last year, while Congress came to power with 64 seats.

BRS MLA from Secunderabad Cantonment G Lasya Nanditha died in a road accident earlier this year.

Congress won the recently held bypoll for Secunderabad Cantonment segment. This led to an increase of its MLAs to 65. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

With voting for the Telangana elections just over a month away, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi has made regional pride the centrepiece of its campaign amid attacks of corruption and dynastic politics from the BJP and the Congress. The party’s working president, KT Rama Rao, who had said Andhra landlords were the villains during the last elections, has trained his guns on the ghulams (servants) of Gujarat and the Delhi durbar (courtiers) this time around.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Friday, Mr Rao also rubbished allegations from both the BJP and the Congress of his party siding with the other and said the BRS is nobody’s B-team, but Telangana’s A-team. 

“The entire statehood movement of Telangana was predicated on two things – self-respect and pride. The Prime Minister comes to Hyderabad and says one Gujarati (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) relieved you from the clutches of the Nizam and another Gujarati (PM Narendra Modi) will relieve you from KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s) dictatorial rule,” Mr Rao, who is also the son of KCR, said.

“We also have to invoke pride and we also have to remind people that the ghulams of Gujarat here in Telangana – the BJP folks – have not done much in the past nine-and-a-half years and we have to speak about their track record as well. Same is the case with the Delhi durbar. Rahul baba comes here and starts saying things like family rule and dynasty, which probably has to be the joke of the millennium,” he added. 

Mr Rao, who is a minister and holds the information technology portfolio, among others, said people from Gujarat and Delhi don’t do their homework before coming to Telangana and he and his party have to remind them from time to time that the Telangana statehood agitation was a matter of great self-respect. “One of the most important tenets of that movement was pride, and you cannot come and insult us like that,” he said. 

Asked about election-related seizures in Telangana touching Rs 243 crore in just ten days, Mr Rao blamed the Congress and said that money had been seized from one of its former corporators in Bengaluru. When it was pointed out that the seizure was in Karnataka, he said a lot of people have common businesses in Karnataka and Telangana. 

“A few builders have told me that the Karnataka government has started charging an extra election tax – Rs 500 per square foot – and they are telling the builders directly that the money is being used for supporting and funding the Congress party in Telangana elections. That is where the money is being caught, the root,” he alleged.

To a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that KCR had bankrolled the Karnataka Congress campaign and the Congress is now returning the favour, Mr Rao said, “The PM is very good at scripting these brilliant narratives and brilliant stories. Unfortunately, none of them see the light of the day. He is the same man who promised bullet trains by 2022, five-trillion dollar economy by 2022 , farmer income doubling by 2022. I am not even going to refer to the Rs 15-lakh jumla.”

“So the fact is that no matter what the PM or Rahul Gandhi would like to believe, we are neither the B-team of the Congress nor the BJP, we are the A-team of the people of Telangana and we will continue to remain steadfastly neutral and equidistant from both the Congress and the BJP. This bipolar situation that they want to create, that this country has to lean either on the BJP or Congress, is not something that we subscribe to. We certainly don’t endorse their view or ideology,” he asserted.

The BRS, earlier known as the Telanagana Rashtra Samithi, has ruled in Telangana since the state was formed in 2014. The Assembly election will be held on November 30 and counting will be held on December 3. 

Hyderabad:

 The working president of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana, K T Rama Rao, alleged on Tuesday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments at a public meeting in Adilabad were full of lies.

Taking a dig at Amit Shah, Rama Rao also said it is ironic to hear him speak of dynastic politics.

“Amit Shah’s statements at the Adilabad public meeting are filled with blatant lies. Amit Shah has become a laughing stock in Telangana,” Rama Rao, the son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), said in a statement.

The home minister should clarify “where his son Jay Shah played cricket or provided coaching” before being appointed as secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), he added.

“Amit Shah, during a speech in Adilabad district five years ago, pledged to revive the dormant Cement Corporation of India. Half a decade later, the promise remains unfulfilled,” the BRS leader said.

He accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of neglecting Telangana.

In the decade since Telangana’s inception, not a single educational institution has been granted to the state, Rama Rao said.

He said Shah’s claim that Telangana holds the top position in the country in farmer suicides is false and misleading.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) copied the BRS government’s “Rythu Bandhu” investment support scheme for farmers and other schemes from Telangana and is alleging that the farmers of the southern state are committing suicide, Rama Rao said.

“The BJP is more interested in using religion for political gains, potentially disrupting communal harmony,” he alleged.

The BRS leader also said Shah should provide a detailed account of what the BJP has done for Telangana over the past decade before asking people for votes.

Referring to Shah’s allegation that the “steering” of the BRS (the party’s poll symbol is car) is in the hands of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), he said it is in the hands of KCR.

“People are tired of the empty promises made by BJP leaders during elections. Instead, they should address issues like unemployment and rising essential commodity prices,” Rama Rao said.

Shah, who addressed the public meeting at Adilabad on Tuesday, kicking off the BJP’s campaign for the November 30 Telangana Assembly polls, mounted a sharp attack against KCR, charging him with only being focused on making his son the chief minister.

Taking on the BRS supremo, he alleged that KCR never worked for the poor but is only keen on making his son the chief minister.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Ruling BRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Monday expressed confidence that his party would score a hat-trick by winning the Legislative Assembly polls scheduled to be held on November 30. He hoped that the elections in Telangana would be “one-sided” in favour of the BRS.

“Elections are going to happen. Election is on November 30. Counting is on December 03. It seems the numbers are also in our favour this time. 30. 03. I feel KCR sir becoming Chief Minister scoring a hat-trick is also going to be certain. Things are in our favour. 3+3 is six. Our lucky number is also six. KCR sir becoming CM is certain and it seems dates are also favourable,” he said, addressing a public meeting at Parkal.

In a message posted on “X”, Rama Rao, also known as KTR said, people have blessed twice and are ready to give a victory third time.

“It would be a third-time win for KCR in the results that would be announced on December 3. It will be a new chapter in South India with an able leader being crowned,” KTR, son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said in the message.

Assembly polls in Telangana will be held on November 30 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.

Except for Gandhian theory, there is no place for “Godse” philosophy in Telangana, he said, hitting out indirectly at the BJP.

He further said old records will be rewritten this time by winning over 100 seats.

The Congress Party gave up the fight while the BJP left the battle even before it started, he mocked.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President and minister in Telangana government KT Rama Rao (KTR) alleged that Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy has links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and he will end up joining BJP after assembly elections.

Launching a sharp attack on the Congress during a public rally in Shadnagar, Mr Rao said that former Chief Minister Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi asking why an RSS leader was made the Chief of the Congress Party in Telangana.

“Revanth Reddy is the President of Pradesh Congress Committee. Who is Revanth Reddy? Captain Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi and asked her why she appointed a RSS man as PCC president,” KTR said.

“Today, BJP says that we (BRS) is B-team of Congress. Congress says that we (BRS) is B-team of BJP. Why should we be B-team? We are always A-team of Telangana people. If there is a B-team in the state, it is the Congress Party President, the RSS man who is joined with BJP. I tell you today, after elections, Congress may win 10-12 seats. Revanth Reddy will join BJP with those 10-12 people. It is definite that he will jump into BJP,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Revanth Reddy alleged that both BJP and BRS are planning to ally for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

 Launching a scathing attack, ruling BRS Working President in Telangana K T Rama Rao on Tuesday accused the BJP of playing communal politics and the Congress of announcing poll ‘guarantees’ in a desperate bid to garner votes.

Speaking at an event where a BJP leader joined the BRS, he alleged that “those in government at the Centre” did not like the BRS government celebrating September 17, the day the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad merged with the Indian Union, as ‘national integration day’.

“Narendra Modi ji’s government at the Centre is playing dirty politics of dividing the society on caste or religious basis, triggering animosities and tensions, creating unnecessary trouble in the name of Hindu or Muslim, raking up old wounds, fomenting communal trouble and trying to derive mileage,” he alleged.

The Modi government and BJP did a slew of injustices to Telangana in the last nine years, including merger of ‘mandals’ (administrative units) in Telangana with Andhra Pradesh at the time of state bifurcation and non-implementation of assurances given to Telangana in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, said Rama Rao, who is a minister in the state government.

PM Modi had promised to bring back black money and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of the poor, he claimed. But, it did not happen, he said.

However, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has deposited Rs 73,000 crore in the accounts of 70 lakh farmers under the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ investment support scheme for ryots, said Rama Rao, son of the CM.

He also attacked the BJP-led government over rise in fuel prices, decline in rupee value against the dollar and others.

A BJP leader in Telangana is making a film on the ‘Razakars’ (armed supporters of Nizam rule) which is an attempt to rake up “old wounds” and foment trouble among people, he claimed.

“On one hand ‘Kashmir Files’ and on the other ‘Kerala Story’ and ‘Razakar Files’. Since they have done nothing for the country in the last nine years, those who cannot do anything play with emotions and do such cheap politics,” Rama Rao said.

Referring to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi attending a Congress rally in Hyderabad two days ago, he said the Congress is now asking for “one chance” to rule but it was given 11 chances for 55 years by people of Telangana and the country.

The Congress did not ensure drinking water and power supply and did not implement schemes like ‘Rythu Bandhu’ when it was in power, he claimed.

“Frustration at not being able to come to power. ..They (Congress) are making rash promises to come to power,” he said.

On the Congress announcing six guarantees for people at the rally, he alleged that power and drinking water supply woes, problems in availability of seeds, “one chief minister every year” is guaranteed if Congress comes to power, he said.

The Congress government in neighbouring Karnataka is not able to implement the promises it made ahead of the Assembly elections, he claimed.

Telangana, under the rule of KCR, is number one in the country in per capita income and per capita power consumption, provision of piped drinking water to every household and others, he said.

KCR should be re-elected in the Assembly polls (scheduled to be held in a couple of months) as a “hat-trick CM”, he said.

The BRS leader’s attack on the NDA government with regard to September 17 is a reference to the Centre organising an official function in Hyderabad, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah attending it, to celebrate the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ and BJP attacking the BRS government for not celebrating the day officially.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)