Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday cautioned people that communal hatred may turn the country into Afghanistan, saying development is possible only with peace.

He said people should be alert to the “attempts being made” to whip up emotions and divide them along religious and caste lines. He warned that the attempts to spread communal hatred will create hell.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was speaking after inaugurating integrated district collectorate and the office of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Mahabubabad.

The BRS leader said the youth should be alert and discuss what is happening in the country.

“Comprehensive development is possible when there is peace and tolerance in the country and when there is a government at the Centre which works without any bias,” he said.

KCR claimed that Telangana with its model of development is showing way to the entire country and called upon people to participate in the effort being undertaken by BRS.

He pointed out that when Telangana was formed, the per capita income was Rs 62,000 lakh and it has now gone up to Rs 1.85 lakh.

Slamming the Central government for its “inefficiency”, he said Telangana suffered a loss of Rs 3 lakh crore in GSDP in the last eight years.

He pointed out that Telangana’s GSDP increased from Rs 5 lakh crore to Rs 11.5 lakh crore in the last eight years. “If only the Centre had performed at par with Telangana, our GSDP would have been Rs 14.5 lakh crore,” he said.

KCR said the government at the Centre failed to address basic problems like water and electricity. He said that the country has water to meet the needs but it was unable to supply the same.

He pointed out that the Krishna tribunal was constituted almost 20 years ago but it was yet to allocate the water. He said this was delaying construction of projects.

KCR announced Rs 50 crore for the development of Mahabubabad municipality and Rs 25 crore each for other municipalities in the district. He also announced an engineering college for the district.