Telangana Congress has strongly condemned the lethargic approach adopted by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in handling the drought situation in the State. Referring to Rao’s trip to Delhi to attend a meeting on drought being organized by Prime Minister, the party urged the CM not dilute the matter of drought in PM’s meeting by raising other issues.
Speaking to media persons at Gadwal in Mahabubnagar district on Monday, Md Shabbir Ali, leader of opposition in the Council, said it was unfortunate that the Chief Minister was meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on drought issue only after Telangana farmers lost four consecutive crops.
“What pains me more is that it was not KCR who sought the Prime Minister’s appointment, but he was invited by the Centre along with other Chief Ministers of drought hit States to discuss the situation,” he said
Shabbir Ali also accused KCR of trying to dilute the agenda of his proposed meeting with Modi. He said he had information that instead of confining himself to seeking relief for drought affected areas, the Chief Minister wants to speak about increase in Assembly seats as well.
“KCR must learn to think beyond politics and elections. He looks concerned about increasing 30-40 MLAs, but least bothered about the welfare of about 4 crore people of Telangana State. So far, KCR has put all his energies in winning elections, by-elections or encouraging defections in other parties. Presently, he is pursuing the sole agenda of finishing off opposition parties from the State,” he alleged.
Shabbir Ali was also critical of the meeting convened by the PM. “Both have woken up after Telangana farmers lost their crops. One farmer is committing suicide once in every 3-4 hours while more than 200 people died due to recent heat wave. Now unseasonal rains have caused the remaining damage. The Central Government did not release adequate funds for Telangana. By holding a meeting with all CMs, Modi is trying to cover up his failures. Convening a meeting on drought situation just before the onset of monsoon is ridiculous and meaningless,” he said.
