Congress to Field Disqualified MLA Danam Nagender in Khairatabad Bypoll: CM Revanth Reddy

 Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday said that the Congress would field Danam Nagender as its candidate in the upcoming Khairatabad Assembly bypoll, asserting that the BRS would never return to power in Telangana. Nagender was disqualified as MLA under the anti-defection law in September for defecting the from BRS to the Congress.

At an informal interaction with mediapersons in Delhi, Revanth Reddy said every election, irrespective of its size, was important and he always took electoral contests seriously. “Had I treated elections casually, I would not have reached this position,” he said.

The Chief Minister alleged that the BRS had looted Telangana since its formation and said the Congress government would not allow the party to return to power. Accusing former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao of being responsible for the death of several students and youth during the statehood agitation, he said the consequences of his alleged actions would continue to haunt him and that nature would punish him for his misrule.

Targeting BRS leaders K.T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao over the Kaleshwaram project, Revanth Reddy said they were speaking without understanding the issue. The government would act on the recommendations of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), whose analysis of the project was underway. Since the project was built with public money, decisions would be based on expert advice and reports from central agencies, he said.

The Chief Minister said his government had resolved several long-pending problems in the state and that he would ensure a solution whenever he understood an issue.

Responding to allegations about his wealth, Revanth Reddy said he was financially well-off since childhood and was wealthier than Chandrashekar Rao. Describing himself as a “plain paper”, he said he had never worked as a minister in anyone's Cabinet.

He accused the BRS of avoiding attending Assembly sessions; when they did attend, its members created a disturbance and walked out whenever core issues were taken up instead of participating in debates.

Revanth Reddy alleged that the BRS was trying to obstruct initiatives it had failed to implement during its tenure. He said whenever the Telangana government met Union ministers in Delhi, Rama Rao would follow suit by meeting them and seek to prevent them from taking action on his requests.