In KCR backyard, Priyanka credits Sonia with creating new state, says BRS govt ‘betrayed’ people

Highlighting the then Congress-led UPA government’s role in bifurcation of the erstwhile unified Andhra Pradesh, and carving out the new state, Priyanka said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi “took the decision keeping in mind the aspirations and dreams of the people of Telangana”.

Giving a new slogan — “Jai bolo Telangana” — as she started her speech at a public meeting, `Yuva Sangarshana Sabha’, at Saroornagar area of Hyderabad on Monday evening, Priyanka asserted that the BRS has “betrayed” the people and their aspirations have not been fulfilled “even nine years after Sonia Gandhi granting statehood to Telangana”.

Priyanka said: “Telangana achieved statehood after many people sacrificed their lives. My family, too, made many sacrifices, so I understand the pain. Granting statehood to Telangana was not an easy task. Sonia Gandhi took the decision keeping in mind the aspirations and dreams of the people of Telangana.”

आज तेलंगाना के युवाओं का प्रेम, जोश और ऊर्जा देखकर बहुत ख़ुशी हुई। आपका प्रदेश इंदिरा जी के दिल के बहुत क़रीब था।

कांग्रेस का Youth Declaration तेलंगाना के युवाओं के लिए शिक्षा, रोजगार के लिए नया रोडमैप बनाएगा। युवाओं के अच्छे भविष्य का रास्ता तैयार करके हम तेलंगाना के शहीदों… pic.twitter.com/RyEo1RmnDM

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) May 8, 2023

At the rally, organised with an aim to attract the youth into joining the Congress, Priyanka announced several sops for the youth as part of the ‘Congress Youth Declaration’ if the party is voted to power.

Taking on the BRS government, Priyanka claimed that it has failed people of the state and that “some leaders” have taken the state to be their “jagir (inheritance)”. She said: “The BRS’s promise of providing neelu (water), nidhulu (funds) and niyamakalu (jobs) has not been fulfilled even after nine years. The BRS has not fulfilled its promise of loan waiver and providing jobs…. The people have been betrayed by the BRS government. Nearly 8,000 farmers have committed suicide in Telangana. The state government has not taken any action in the TSPSC (Telangana State Public Service Commission) exam paper leak case.”

She said the government of K Chandrashekar Rao promised to waive farm loans “but even today more than 2.5 lakh farmers are burdened with loans, and three farmers are committing suicide (on average) every day. KCR said there will be a job for every household. Did you get a job? Here, 40 lakh youths are unemployed.”

While the BRS led a campaign for a non-BJP and non-Congress “federal front” before 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party is now learnt to be open to the idea of joining an anti-BJP coalition led by the Congress, even while it has reservations about Rahul Gandhi as the face of this Opposition alliance, The Indian Express had recently reported.

Both Congress and BRS leaders have sniped at each other in recent months as talks among opposition parties to form a non-BJP coalition gathers pace.

At Monday’s rally, Priyanka said a government in Telangana under the Congress will provide interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakhs to unemployed youths to start businesses, electric scooters to students, set up a youth commission on the lines of the SC/ST Commission, create 2 lakh jobs within two years of coming to power, and provide a grant of Rs 4,000 per month to jobless youths, among others.

Exhorting people to bring the Congress to power in the state, she said if the government then fails to implement the Youth Declaration, then people should bring it down. Stating that people still recall Indira Gandhi even 40 years after her assassination, Priyanka said she is often compared with the former Prime Minister, and it fills her with a sense of responsibility.

Incidentally, Priyanka Gandhi’s image has been displayed prominently on the ‘Hyderabad Youth Declaration’, with a black-and-white picture of Indira Gandhi in the background. The declaration recognises the sacrifices of people who died in the struggle for creating the new state of Telangana, and those who protested demanding statehood.