HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday launched the LPG cylinder for Rs 500, under the Maha Lakshmi scheme, and free power up to 200 units, under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, fulfilling two more promises made by the Congress in the state polls run-up.
Launching the guarantees at the Secretariat in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who holds the finance and energy portfolios, and irrigation and civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Revanth Reddy expressed his pride in keeping the promises made by party leader Sonia Gandhi.
“The Six Guarantees for Assembly polls were promised by none other than Sonia Gandhi at the Tukkuguda public meeting on September 17, 2023, and the Congress government in Telangana state views Sonia’s promises as 'shilashasanam' (stone inscription), which will be implemented in true letter and spirit at any cost come what may,” he said.
Saying that the people of Telangana state voted the Congress to power as they believed in Sonia Gandhi, the Chief Minister said: “The Congress government assumed office on December 7, launched two guarantees, of free TSRTC bus travel to women and enhancement of Rajiv Arogyasri health insurance cover from `5 lakh to `10 lakh, within 48 hours of coming to power, on December 9. Today, we are launching two more guarantees. We are committed to launch all the Six Guarantees promised during Assembly polls.”
Revanth Reddy slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for increasing the price of LPG cylinders from `400 to `1,200, which adversely affected financially poorer families. He also rapped K. Chandrashekar Rao for failing to take steps to decrease the burden on domestic consumers.
“When Sonia Gandhi was chairperson of Congress-led UPA government from 2004 to 2014, she brought Deepam scheme to provide LPG gas connections and cylinders to women from poorer sections for cheaper rates. After Modi became PM in 2014, he allowed a steep hike in cylinder prices,” Revanth Reddy said.
“In Telangana, KCR, who was CM for nearly 10 years, viewed higher cylinder price as a revenue earning source for the government in the form of GST. But the present Congress government came forward to reduce price burden by offering cylinder for just `500,” the Chief Minister said.
He assured that despite the financial crisis in the state due to huge debts made by the previous BRS government, the Congress government will not go back on its promises of welfare schemes. “We are maintaining good financial discipline. We are curbing wasteful expenditure to mobilise and save funds required for implementing Six Guarantees,” Reddy stated.
Revanth Reddy appealed to the public not to believe the “false propaganda” of BRS and BJP leaders about the Congress government's ability to implement the Six Guarantees.
He said that although the state government had planned to launch the two guarantees at a huge public meeting in Chevella in the presence of AICC leader Priyanka Gandhi, it could not do so due to the election code on account of the MLC election for local bodies.
