The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which skipped the meeting of opposition parties held in Patna on Friday, has made it clear that it doesn’t subscribe to the view that the BJP or the Congress should be the nucleus of any front or coalition.
BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao hinted that BRS will maintain equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP and it maintains that people and not parties should unite.
“We believe in uniting people on issues and not in uniting parties,” he told media persons in New Delhi. Interestingly, he was in the national capital to meet Union Ministers on a day when leaders of 15 opposition parties, including the Congress, met in Patna and decided to work together.
KTR, as the leader is popularly known, stated that any effort will be successful only when people unite and not parties. “Even if 20 parties unite and there is no outcome, which is people-centric, there is no point in it. It can’t hinge on your blind hatred for one party or another,” he said.
“If you have to ensure that people vote for you, you have to tell what you have done when given the opportunity. Unfortunately, the Congress can’t claim much.
“A simple philosophy we have been championing is that it’s not about uniting political parties. The agenda should be to unite people on issues. Unfortunately, in India political rhetoric eclipses everything around it,” he remarked.
“We have maintained all along that people should unite, based on people centric issues. Unfortunately, the whole ecosystem that has been built is that the BJP or Congress should be the nucleus of any front or coalition. This is something we don’t subscribe to,” the BRS leader said.
KTR alleged that both Congress and BJP have miserably failed in ensuring development of the country during the last 75 years despite people giving them huge opportunities. “Congress was given 50 years to administer the nation and BJP was given 15 years. If today you look around, our neighbours are doing better and so many countries moved on in the last seven decades while our country is where it was,” he said.
“If India still has villages without electricity and drinking water, it is because of these two national parties. There is a need for people to unite against both these parties. We will continue our efforts to unite people on the basis of issues against these two parties,” he added.
KTR stated that the BRS will continue its efforts to expand itself in other states. “If a small state like Telangana is able to do wonders in a short span of nine years, the rest of the country has a lot to pick and learn. We want the Telangana model of development to be replicated across the country. That is why we are spreading wings and ambitions to other parts of India including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
KTR launched a scathing attack on Congress while reacting to the allegation by its leaders that his BRS skipped the Patna meeting as it is the “B team” of BJP.
“Everyone knows how Congress and BJP colluded in Nizamabad and Karimnagar parliamentary constituencies. People know who is colluding with whom,” he said.
He dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the weakest Prime Minister in the history of independent India and said that his party has been ahead of others in criticising Modi’s “inefficiency”.
To another query about Congress, he said: “Congress has been a disaster for this nation. They have been, in fact, the root cause for every malice that plagues India today. The fact that Congress has been given 50 years at governance has not been able to deliver reflects in their mindset and in their silly criticism.”
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