Accusing the BJP of indulging in ‘Goebbels's propaganda’ during the poll campaign, Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday dared the BJP state president and Karimnagar MP, Bandi Sanjay, to prove the BJP’s claims that the Union government was paying a majority share of the state’s pension scheme to the beedi workers, or else quit his post as the state president and Member of Parliament.
Addressing the media in Dubbaka, Harish Rao said, “I am throwing a challenge to Bandi Sanjay. You yourself decide the date and time. Let’s go to Dubbaka bus stand and let’s speak amidst the people of Dubbaka. You bring along all the evidence regarding your claims. If it is true that the Union government is providing Rs 1,600 [out of the total pension amount of Rs 2,000], I will resign on the spot as the Finance Minister and Siddipet MLA. If you can’t prove the claims, will you rub your nose on the ground and resign as the MP of Karimnagar and BJP state president?”
The Finance Minister, who is tasked with the TRS’s poll campaign for the Dubbaka bye-poll, has alleged that the BJP has ‘stooped too low’ and is playing ‘dirty politics with blatant lies’ about the BJP-led Centre providing the majority of funds to the state government’s welfare programmes.
Harish Rao said, “As a finance minister of the state, I can say this with authority that not Rs 1,600, the Union government didn’t even provide 16 paise.”
The Minister played video clips of a BJP corporator campaigning in the constituency and telling the beedi workers in the constituency that the Union government is paying a majority share in the state’s welfare programmes. “There should be a limit to the lies,” Harish Rao fumed.
Harish Rao said that the BJP is claiming credit for the ‘KCR kit’ given to women after their delivery as well. “That corporator is saying that in the KCR kit, the state’s contribution is just Rs 2,000 and Narendra Modi is sending the rest of Rs 8,000. The actual cost of KCR kit is Rs 2,000. If you had contributed Rs 8,000, wouldn't you have named it Modi kit?”
The Minister questioned that if any of BJP’s claims were true, why weren’t BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Karnataka providing the same kind of kits.
The bye-election in Dubbaka is scheduled for November 3. The election is being held after the death of TRS legislator Ramalinga Reddy. The nominations of candidates concluded on Monday, and a total of 23 candidates are in fray.