Telangana polls: Congress’ Navjot Singh Sidhu dubs KCR’s family 'Ali Baba and 4 Chor'

Congress leader and Punjab's Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday termed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his family as "Ali Baba Aur 4 Chor.”

"We heard 'Ali Baba Aur 40 Chor' but here you have Ali Baba Aur 4 Chor. KCR, KTR, Kavitha, Harish Rao and Santosh Rao," Sidhu said at a news conference at the Congress office in Hyderabad.

KCR's son KT Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, is a Cabinet Minister, while daughter K. Kavitha is a member of the Lok Sabha. KCR's nephew T. Harish Rao is also a Minister in the state Cabinet, while KCR's co-brother's son J. Santosh Kumar is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

The cricketer-turned-politician said Telangana was a revenue surplus state but under KCR it had gone under a debt of Rs 2.20 lakh crore because "a family is feeding rampantly on the resources."

"It is not a democracy. It is an autocracy. Autocrats and dictators are ruling the state and same is happening at the top," he said referring to the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Sidhu said Telangana was in total disarray as KCR had turned its strengths into weaknesses.

He also slammed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief for using harsh language for a youth who questioned him about the promise of 12 per cent reservation for Muslims at a TRS election rally. "Raj-tantra has turned into Goonda-tantra. What crime had the boy committed?" asked Sidhu.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who addressed the media at Sangareddy in Telangana on Friday, said that Hyderabad was like a "cooked biryani" which Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao got following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The former union minister said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief had no contribution in the making of this "biryani".

He recalled that at the time of bifurcation in 2014, there was a dispute over Hyderabad. The question was should it go to Telangana or should it be a joint capital of the two states or a union territory.

Jairam Ramesh, who played a key role in the bifurcation process, said United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided that Hyderabad will "100 per cent" go to Telangana.

"Hyderabad with revenues of Rs 16,000 crore was like a cooked biryani," he said and pointed out that same has now crossed Rs 25,000 crore. "KCR got cooked biryani. He had no role in its making," said the Congress leader while pointing out that former Chief Ministers like Brahmanand Reddy, NT Rama Rao, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Kiran Kumar Reddy contributed in developing Hyderabad.

Jairam Ramesh criticized KCR for demanding special category status to Telangana now. He said the TRS chief had made no such demand in 2014. He alleged that making such a demand now was nothing but betrayal.

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