Telangana BJP starts campaign, collections for Ram Mandir construction

Hyderabad: A campaign to raise funds and collect bricks for the construction of the Ram mandir in Ayodhya was launched on Wednesday by the BJP, styled as Jana Jagaran under the Sri Rama Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust.

State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the Karimnagar MP, inaugurated the drive at Borabanda in the city. The campaign will continue till February 10, Sanjay said, adding he would be touring the state. He called on every Hindu to give a brick each for the mandir construction.

Sanjay referred to speculations about minister K.T. Rama Rao taking over as Chief Minister soon, and said he had also heard that the father and son have begun conducting pujas by way of preparations for this.

Taking a dig at the Chandrashekar Rao for going to the Kaleshwaram project on Tuesday and performing puhas, Sanjay said: “KCR conducted a special puja to wash away the sins of KTR before he’s made the CM. He went to Kaleshwaram for the purpose of immersing the pooja material in the Triveni Sangamam.”

Sanjay alleged that the Chief Minister was misleading the people about the Kaleshwaram project. Referring to the Chief Minister’s plans of using additional water from the project, Sanjay said: “What is the use of a third tmc ft of water from Kaleshwaram when the CM has failed to take the construction of the project forward with redesigning.”

The project is designed to draw two tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) and the government plans to increase it to three tmc ft.

The BJP leader alleged that the Chief Minister has plans to “spirit away” Rs 3 lakh crore in the remaining three years of his party’s governance till the 2023 Assembly elections. “Why not make Etala Rajendar the Chief Minister? He was a real fighter for Telangana, more than K.T. Rama Rao,” Sanjay asked.

If Chandrashekar Rao makes a Dalit MLA the Chief Minister, the people of Telangana state would be happy, he added.