Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has availed the victory of Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS), the trade union affiliated to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), in the Singareni Collieries election to identify majority union to tear into the Opposition parties saying that they have fallen flat in spite of ganging up against TBGKS.
“We (TBGKS) have polled more votes than last time in spite of all the major opposition parties forming into a combine to defeat the trade union backed by TRS. Our vote share has gone up to 45% from 36% last time and won 9 out 11 divisions as against the five last time”, Mr. Rao told the media here on Friday following the announcement of election results on Thursday night.
The Chief Minister observed that the Opposition parties were unable even to identify the right agenda against the government and the election result was a proof that nobody believed in their words mostly targeting the government and the Chief Minister without any substance. “People are proving it repeatedly, even by-passing the sympathy factor, by giving TRS thumping victories in Medak and Warangal Lok Sabha by-elections, Narayankhed Assembly by-poll and GHMC elections but the Opposition parties are unwilling to learn a lesson”, he remarked.
“If it’s a referendum as the Opposition tried to portray the trade union election, will they keep their mouth shut from tomorrow”, he sought to know.
Mr. Rao also utilised the opportunity to lambast Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman Prof. M Kodandaram, who campaigned against TBGKS in Singareni polls, and questioned the very existence of the body after formation of Telangana State. “He has animosity towards TRS from the beginning and that was the reason why he went to Delhi and met the Congress leadership before the 2014 elections dissuading them from reaching any electoral tie-up with the TRS”, he explained. Stating that Prof. Kodandaram was thinking himself bigger than what he is, the Chief Minister suggested him to join politics directly and enter the electoral fray if he had political ambitions, instead of targeting the government from the veil. “If he has genuine support for Telangana martyrs, why didn't he campaign for Srikantha Chary's mother in the 2014 election”, Mr. Rao asked. Asking the Opposition parties not to nitpick the welfare and development programmes, the Chief Minister reiterated that the government would always welcome constructive criticism instead of meaningless utterances. He also appealed to people not to give much weight to criticism for the sake of it.