TELANGANA HAS plunged into a debt trap despite the Centre giving it more then Rs 2 lakh crore, Unionon Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday as he targeted the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government in the state, calling it anti-farmer. Addressing a public meeting at Munugode, about 85 km from here, where a by-poll is scheduled to be held later, Shah alleged that the TRS government is committing a sin by keeping the farmers away from the PM Fasal Bhima Yojana and assured that if the BJP is voted to power in the next Assembly elections, it will ensure that every grain of paddy will be procured from farmers. “Despite over Rs 2 lakh crore help from Modi's government, Telangana has plunged into debt. I promise that if Raj Gopal Reddy wins and the BJP is voted to power [in the next elections], Telangana will also be developed like any other state in the country,” Shah said. He was referring to K Raj Gopal Reddy, who resigned as the Congress MLA from Munugode and the quit the party on August 2. On Sunday, he was formally inducted into the BJP by Shah at the public meeting. The BJP turned the public meeting into a huge show of strength, a day after Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao held a public meeting at the same place. Reacting to allegations made by the TRS, Shah said the Modi government had reduced prices of petrol twice but the Telangana government did not reduce VAT on petrol due to which the prices continue to remain high in the state. He also accused the Chief Minister Rao of being afraid of the AIMIM. “TRS promised to celebrate Telangana Liberation Day in September but KCR did not fulfil this promise out of fear of AIMIM,’’ he said. “Today, Raj Gopal Reddy’s joining the BJP is the beginning of the end of KCR.” After the meeting, Shah drove to a top hotel where he met several prominent people, including Tollywood actor Junior NTR, who starred in the latest blockbuster 'RRR'. Incidentally, the actor is the grandson of TDP founder N T Rama Rao. He was invited by BJP leaders for a dinner meeting with Shah. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox Junior NTR campaigned for the TDP during the 2009 general elections but has stayed away from active politics. Since 2009, he has not been seen in public with TDP leaders or leaders of other parties. While his father Nandamuri Harikrishna was a TDP Rajya Sabha member from 2008 to 2013, his uncle and actor Nandamuri Balakrishna is a TDP MLA from Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh. The TDP was earlier a BJP ally but ahead of the 2019 Assembly and parliamentary elections the Chandrababu Naidu-led party pulled out of the NDA. With PTI inputs
