Telangana is ‘jagir’ of sons of soil: KTR counters Pawan Kalyan

Hyderabad: Reacting sharply to Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan's remarks that 'Telangana is not anyone’s Jagir (private estate)’, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said the state belongs to the four crore ‘sons of the soil', who fought and sacrificed for Telangana. He said in the past 12 years after formation of Telangana, there was not a single untoward incident between the people belonging to the Telugu states.

“People from AP, including Pawan Kalyan’s family, live here and do businesses like many others do. Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party contested assembly elections in 2023 and at 350 places in the recently held municipal elections in Telangana. In 2018, the Telugu Desam Party also contested elections. Who is stopping them from contesting," KTR said at a meet-the-press programme at Somajiguda press club on Wednesday.

KTR said it is absolutely wrong that a person, who did not like the way the bifurcation bill was passed and did not eat for 11 days, wants to hold a meeting on Telangana formation day. The BRS leader said Telangana people, need not learn lessons from Pawan Kalyan on patriotism as the state has decades of history of patriotism.

He also objected to the Jana Sena chief's comments that regionalism is a bigger danger than terrorism. KTR said freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu went on a 58-day hunger strike for a separate state for Telugus, wanting it carved out from erstwhile Madras state. “Can we call it as regionalism?" he asked. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi diverted major projects from Telangana to Gujarat to develop his own state, should we call it as economic terrorism in the name of nationalism?”

The BRS leader also said that though Telugus are divided, the BRS wants Telugus to be united. He also recalled the BRS opposed privatisation of Visakha steel plant and its party leaders expressed their solidarity to the agitating employees.

Expressing confidence on returning power in Telangana by winning 90 assembly seats, KTR said, “BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao is the OG of the party, who would arrive whenever necessary.” He asserted that the BRS will defeat CM Revanth Reddy in Kodangal.

Describing the Congress rule in the past 30 months as a 'disaster' and that it cheated on every section of the society, KTR asked CM Revanth to seek votes after implementing election promises.

The BRS working president termed the Future City as a ‘future-less’ city and said the BRS would scrap the project after coming to power.