HYDERABAD: A day after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao went for BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s jugular, calling him a bundle of white lies with regard to paddy procurement, petroleum products’ prices and Central farm laws, the saffron party leader on Monday hit back at him, contending that the TRS president was trying to confuse the farmers with interpretation of issues that do not stand the test of logic. The BJP leader also demanded an apology to the Indian Army from the Chief Minister for his remarks which lowered its image as they fought Chinese aggression in the Northeast.
Showing two GOs as proof, Sanjay Kumar also sought to establish the fact that the TRS government indeed had increased VAT on petroleum products contrary to the TRS chief’s assertion that they had not raised even a paisa since the formation of the State in 2014. He demanded that the State should cut VAT now as the Centre had already reduced the price of fossil fuels. “The State is getting more taxes than Centre. Telangana is the only State levying high taxes after Rajasthan,” he said.
Referring to paddy procurement, he said it was the Chief Minister who should clarify the situation. Sanjay Kumar said that the FCI, in its letter written to the State in August, only said that it would not buy parboiled rice.Painting the BJP as villain of the piece, the Chief Minister also sought to convince the people that Telangana received only Rs 42,000 crore from the Centre, he said and added: “In fact, the State got in return Rs 2.12 lakh crore so far under different schemes since its formation.”
On the delay in referring the river water disputes to a new tribunal, Sanjay Kumar wanted to know what the TRS government was doing for the last seven years. “The State government withdrew the petition in the Supreme Court only recently and now it is building pressure on the Centre why it had not yet referred the issue to the Supreme Court. Had the Chief minister withdrawn the petition in 2014 itself, we would have had the issue resolved by now in a tribunal,” he said.
He went a step further and said the CM was more often than not under the influence of alcohol. “If one drives in a state of intoxication, he or she is arrested. But if a CM runs the State in a state of inebriation, he goes scot-free,” he said.
Responding to KCR’s usage of words like ‘narukuta’ (will slaughter), Bandi Sanjay Kumar held that he belongs to a party which had received threats from Naxals. “I belong to a party which is known for sacrifices and patriotism. KCR should know his limitations. His support base is dwindling, which can be pointed out by the fact that farmers are not ready to give space for his public meeting in Warangal,” he said.
Sanjay Kumar also challenged KCR to prove his credentials either as a secular or religious leader. “We openly say that we stand for cause of 80% of the population. Can you claim the same,” he asked. Stating that KCR was unpopular, he said that each time one typed ‘waste fellow of India’ on Google, one would get his details.
‘Apologise to Indian Army’
The BJP leader also demanded the Chief Minister to apologise to the Indian Army for his remarks which lowered its image as they fought Chinese aggression in the Northeast
