Chamala Kiran Reddy, the Congress candidate from Bhuvanagiri (Bhongir) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is spending several hours meeting the people of his constituency. This is the first Lok Sabha election for Reddy who is the vice-president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. In a chat with News18, the NSUI leader speaks about his plans for his constituency and clarifies the ‘wealth redistribution’ remark by Rahul Gandhi.
Edited Excerpts:
What are the main issues in your constituency?
The main issue right now is irrigation. We have 5-6 projects like Shivannagudam Sagar project, Rudramma Cheruvu project etc. which were initiated during the previous Congress tenure. However, they remain partially finished. The previous chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao, concentrated mainly on Kaleshwaram project while ignoring projects in south Telangana. Our CM, Revanth Reddy, came to Bhuvanagari recently and promised funds to complete these. We will also encourage industries to come up in areas connected through Regional Ring Road. Most of the companies are concentrated in the western part of Hyderabad, and there are hardly any in the south and south-east areas. Development of these areas will help unemployed youth from my constituency get jobs. We have no multi-specialty hospitals in Bhongir. AIIMS Bibinagar is still on paper. We will make sure that it becomes functional soon.
Also, government school infrastructure and recruitment of teachers has been ignored. Private schools remain the only resort for parents coming from different sections of society. We will be working to make Zilla Parishad schools the best educational institutions in the state.
Since the BRS did not have a cordial relation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they were unable to get funds for various projects. Being a young, vocal man, I will fight for the people of Telangana in Parliament.
Your constituency has been represented by minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy in the past years. How are people on the ground reacting to a new face?
Our constituency has 18 lakh voters. The party cadre know me, but not the public. I am a new face from a middle-class background. I definitely have to overcome hurdles in this area as unless you are elected once, you are not known widely to the public. I have no political or wealthy background. I am a youth leader from NSUI. I am one of the leaders Congress has decided to groom for the future. I have already held nine meetings in my constituency to convey my ideas to them. In the coming days, I will hold 45 meetings in every mandal. The Komatireddy brothers (Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy) are supporting me. The public is admiring our unity.
The opposition parties are pointing out that the Congress government did not keep its promise of fulfilling all six guarantees within 100 days of coming to power.
In our constituency, Revanth Reddy recently promised people that the Rs 2 lakh loan waiver for farmers will be done before August 15. BRS did not fulfil its promises even in 10 years. Yes, we did give a commitment of 100 days, but after coming to power, we realised the precarious financial situation in the state. We realised many GOs were issued without the knowledge of the public and that the previous government had spent crores on these, resulting in a debt of Rs 9 lakh crore. We released a white paper on the debt burden in the state to not renege on our promises, but to show that we will overcome the challenges and fulfil our promises. The people, otherwise, will teach us a lesson if we don’t deliver.
Recently, candidates from the BJP and AIMIM have been accused of vitiating the poll atmosphere with communal comments…
The only aim of Congress is that our future generations have proper infrastructure, education and healthcare. I appeal to the people not to bring religion or caste into this. India is a secular democracy. The BJP is creating social media buzz instead of focusing on issues on the ground. In the BJP’s agenda, 70 per cent is polarisation, and 30 per cent is development. Same goes for MIM. Old City was not developed for so many years because only one family is ruling there. Hindus, Muslims, Christians and all communities should vote only for development.
PM Modi has said if Congress comes to power, only a select few communities will get benefits. Is that true?
Which community has PM Modi empowered? If PM Modi takes ownership of any community, then people from that section have to think about how much empowerment they got. The prime minister is trying to give a signal to some communities that they will lose what they have, which is wrong. The truth is that PM Modi wants to retire now. In his last general election, he wants to garner as many votes as possible with their slogan ‘Ab ki Baar, 400 Paar’ in order to rewrite the Constitution. I request the people to be careful and safeguard our Constitution. India is a pluralistic society. We cannot think about removing secularism.
The comment on ‘wealth redistribution’ was made by Rahul Gandhi in Tukkuguda here. What did he mean by that statement?
Rahul Gandhi talked about empowering everyone, to give equal opportunity to all castes and religions. He did not talk about putting restrictions on anyone’s living standards. He wants to spread brotherhood in all communities. He did not mean that a few will be robbed and their assets will be redistributed. The line is being taken out of context. If you listen to the whole speech, you will understand what he said. People are taking just one line out of context and conveying the wrong meaning.
Wealth redistribution does not mean that anyone’s wealth will be robbed. He meant that, in the coming years, whenever a budget is presented, all communities will receive allocations in an equitable manner.
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