Reiterating the Telangana government’s stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President and Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) K T Rama Rao on Thursday said that the Act was discriminatory in nature.
He further said that the Telangana government would take a call regarding the National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) when the Centre asks them to implement it in the state.
Addressing reporters ahead of the municipal polls at Telangana Bhavan, KTR said, “Wherever we had to speak, we spoke against it (referring to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha). Why are there so many protests against it? There weren’t so many protests when Triple Talaq Bill was passed or when Article 370 was abrogated. This Bill (now Act) raises more questions than answers."
“The Act is unacceptable. Why are only Muslims excluded from seeking refugee? This is not good for the country. It is a shame that a democratic country is excluding Muslims. We are a secular party and we reject it,” he added.
Asking the protestors not to worry about NPR and NRC, the Minister said, “There is no need for apprehensions or prejudice. We have not received any orders from the Centre yet. When we receive, we will sit down, deliberate with the cabinet and then take a decision.”
KTR said that the BJP has been overlooking the mounting concerns about inflation, economic growth, unemployment and is focusing on CAA, NPR and NRC. “What is the need for this? Economic growth is on a decline and unemployment is increasing. Oil prices are also increasing due to the Iraq-USA crisis,” he said.
Speaking about the Municipal polls, KTR claimed that the TRS would win the polls with a huge margin, outperforming the Congress and BJP. “We will win the lion's share,” he asserted.
120 municipalities and 10 municipal corporations in the state are scheduled to go to the polls on January 22. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the municipal corporations of Khammam and Warangal are exempt, as their members are yet to complete their terms.
KTR said that the party is not even concerned about the GHMC elections scheduled for 2021, because they know that they would win it comfortably.
The TRS leader said that people were happy with the party's governance. “We solved the power crisis, drinking water crisis and irrigation crisis,” he said.
The Minister also alleged that both Congress and BJP have colluded to try to defeat the TRS.
“Congress and BJP have a tacit understanding in Gadwal, Jagtial, Nizamabad, Vemulawada, Narayanpet, Adilabad and some other places. We will give them a befitting response,” KTR said.
KTR's statement on the CAA and NRC comes days after Home Minister Mahmood Ali, a close aide of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said that NRC will not be implemented the state.
“I assure you that there won’t be any NRC, there’s not even a second thought on it. We will live peacefully. There won’t be any trouble,” Mahmood Ali, who is also the state's Deputy Chief Minister, told a gathering.