Ponguleti Questions BRS Ability To Fulfil Civic Poll Promises
Congress leaders say only ruling party councillors can secure funds
Nalgonda: Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Thursday questioned how candidates of the BRS could fulfil promises made to voters in the municipal elections when the party is not in power in the state.
Addressing a roadshow in Ashwaraopet municipality of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, he said the Congress government was in office and that funds for urban development would be sanctioned by the state. He said councillors belonging to the ruling party would be able to pursue the government and ministers to secure funds for town development. He asked people to question Opposition candidates on how they would deliver development or resolve ward-level issues when their party was not ruling the state.
Targeting the previous BRS government, the minister alleged that it had diluted housing schemes, denying the poor the opportunity to own houses. He said there was no response from the gathering when he asked those who had received double-bedroom houses during the BRS’s 10-year rule to raise their hands. He alleged that large funds were pumped into the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme with the intention of earning commissions of thousands of crores for leaders of the then ruling party.
Stating that the Congress government was implementing its poll promises, he said the Indiramma housing scheme had been revived and 4.5 lakh houses sanctioned to eligible poor families in the first phase. He added that in the next three phases, houses would be sanctioned to all eligible families across the state.
The minister said farmers faced hardships during the BRS regime, which, he alleged, sought to monopolise crop cultivation patterns. He recalled that former chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had stated that farmers cultivating paddy would be left with no option but to hang themselves. He further alleged that farmers were suppressed when they demanded their rights. He said the Congress government had waived crop loans worth Rs 21,000 crore within nine months of assuming office.
Expressing confidence, Srinivas Reddy said the results of the gram panchayat elections would be repeated in the municipal polls, and claimed that BRS candidates would fail to secure even their deposits.
