BRS is the A-team of People of Telangana, Says KT Rama Rao | Exclusive

Anti-incumbency, corruption allegations and dynasty politics have been the main charges against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which is eyeing a third term under its Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), but with the Congress projecting an upward swing post Karnataka, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pushing for a triangular contest, is the BRS staring at a do-or-die battle?

From B-team jibe to unemployment to controversies surrounding Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, and KCR’s national ambitions, News18 speaks to BRS working president KT Rama Rao.

Edited excerpts:

Is this your most challenging election?

Every election is a challenge, we won’t deny that the Congress has picked up in the state and has been giving us a good fight. I’m confident that we will win bigger than last time.

What is your main poll plank, development or welfare schemes?

It has always been a brilliant blend of both for us. This time, it’s no different, we will talk about both. The development in sectors such as power, infrastructure, irrigation, health, rural development and education. We will also talk about welfare, on how we have taken care of the most vulnerable sections of the population.

Anti-incumbency is your biggest challenge, why did you risk repeating 95% of your sitting MLAs?

We repeated our sitting MLAs because they were loyal to us and we are confident of their win.

What is your slogan?

‘Risk Nahi Lena, KCR ko Wapas Vote Dena’.

The Congress calls you the B-team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). PM Modi said KCR wanted to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). What is your actual relationship with the Modi government?

PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi don’t like that there is another leader in the country who wants to break out on his own. When the Congress is here, they say we are the BJP’s B team. The BJP calls us Congress’s team. We are not with either of the parties. We are the A-team of the people of Telangana.

How much of the previous manifesto was implemented?

We have fulfilled 90% of the promises made in the 2018 manifesto.

What about unemployment and jobs generation?

Unemployment is a national issue, thanks to PM Modi for giving us the highest unemployment in the last 40 years. In Telangana, we have generated 1.32 lakh posts in the government sector. In the private sector, we have generated around 24 lakh jobs. Telangana has done remarkably well. Congress-ruled United AP, from 2004-2014, generated only 1,000 jobs per year.

Don’t you think the delay in public service exams has put you on a sticky wicket, there is unrest among the youth and your promise to give unemployment allowance has also not been fulfilled…

One of the promises that was not fulfilled from the last manifesto was unemployment and that’s because of Covid. It destroyed our economics. Yes, the public service commission has been a challenging issue , but exams have been reconducted and results will come out and, hopefully, people will be happy.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairman had said TSPSC was one of the best models. There will be glitches, but what matters is how you deal with it. We will work on unemployed youth and certainly work at overhauling the system.

The Centre’s report on the Kaleshwaram irrigation project says the design, planning, maintanence and operations haven’t been executed properly, which led to the partial sinking of two pillars of the Meddigadda barrage on October 21. Your initial reaction? Is this political vendetta as you have been claiming?

I have not seen the report yet, but as far as my knowledge goes, it’s the central water commission that approves the designs. It is the water resources ministry which approves it. So if the design was faulty, I think they are also jointly responsible. If there is problem with the execution then the agency that executed the project has to pay for it without wasting a single paisa of the exchequer. Every single project has been vetted by the central ministry. If I remember correctly, the CWC had called it an engineering marvel and I’m not sure why that has changed because of the elections.

If the Centre is contradicting its own stand, we must understand why and how…

I have not seen the report on Kaleshwaram irrigation project yet, but as far as my knowledge goes, it’s the central water commission that approves the designs. It is the water resources ministry which approves it. So if the design was faulty, I think they are also jointly responsible. If there is problem with the execution then the agency that executed the project has to pay for it without wasting a single paisa of the exchequer. Every single project has been vetted by the central ministry. If I remember correctly, the CWC had called it an engineering marvel and I’m not sure why that has changed because of the elections…This is a project that has been a huge success.