Former minister and Huzurabad MLA Eatala Rajender, who has fallen out of the grace of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, has stated that he would move legally against the ‘witch-hunting’ unleashed against him by the State government using all its might.
He criticised Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao for acting with such a venomous attitude and said it does not suit the stature of a leader such as KCR. Not stopping at that, Mr. Rajender also pointed out the ‘irregularities’ of his leader till the other day, seeking to know whether the link road to KCR’s farmhouse was not laid through assignment and private lands illegally. “Eatala Rajender is not a person who can be cowed down by threatening arrests and false cases. I am not so small to be unsettled with such tactics as I too have trod the path along with you (KCR) for 19 years. How could a ‘brother’ like me become a demon overnight. I will prefer to die but won’t mortgage my self-respect at any cost,” he said on Monday in his first reaction after being dropped from the Council of Ministers on Sunday night.
The actions of Chief Minister would not suit his stature as he would often say that he embarked upon the struggle for statehood to Telangana for the self-esteem of the people. “As he (KCR) used to say that he was alone when he took off for the self-respect of Telangana people, I too may be alone now in the struggle for self-respect,” Mr. Rajender said, reciting KCR’s words: “Sar pe kafan baandh ke nikla akela...”.
Stating that he would chalk out his future course of action, including quitting as MLA, only after consulting his constituents in Huzurabad, Mr. Rajender said it was they who had been his strength for the last 20 years. He said he was hurt badly not for the allegations of land-grabbing or encroachments, but poking his self-esteem.
On the allegation of land-grabbing and encroachment in Atchampet and Hakimpet villages of Masaipet mandal in Medak district, Mr. Rajender pointed out how the administration — Revenue, Vigilance and Revenue Departments — had given a go-by to norms by not even serving notice on him (the company owned by his family that owns the lands in question) and finalised land survey and report in a matter of just 24 hours.
The report against him (his family) was finalised in such a hurry that the officials had even misrepresented his family relations by stating Jamuna, the chairperson of Jamuna Hatcheries, as wife of Nithin Reddy. (Jamuna is Mr. Rajender’s wife and Nithin Reddy their son). He said there were thousands of such alleged land disputes/irregularities in the State and the government could as well order a common probe into all. Mr. Rajender revealed that no minister in the Cabinet or legislator in TRS could boast of any self-respect when facing the leadership as many would often say privately that they should be given a better treatment, at least as human beings.