He proved his political prowess, yet again. TRS supremo and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao answered his critics on some issues without naming a single of them at the massive public meeting held on the eve of launching his government’s ambitious Dalit Bandhu scheme.
Soon after the scheme concept was announced, his political rivals started saying that he is trying to win dalit votes, throwing money as bait in the guise of the scheme. Interestingly, Mr. Rao did not utter a single word about the ensuing Huzurabad Assembly seat by-election.
The seat fell vacant after one of his trusted aides Eatala Rajender resigned as MLA after Mr. Rao dropped him from his Council of Ministers. Mr. Rajender eventually joined the BJP. Both the BJP and the Congress made blistering attacks that he is trying to buy dalits by offering ₹10 lakh financial assistance in the name of the empowering dalits through the scheme.
All that he said was “elections come and go” but government and development schemes are important. Referring to scheme’s critics, he said in past 75 years of Independence, there were several prime ministers and chief ministers but none of them conceived an idea like Dalit Bandhu.
“The critics are raising a hue and cry saying how many dalits would get...We will cover every dalit, including dalit government employees,” he said. He added that none of the critics are able to bring any additional money but spend their strength only on targetting his government.
A couple of days ago, protest demonstrations were held in Veenavanaka mandal of the constituency over selection of beneficiaries for the scheme. “I heard about this. Those inciting people will not give money,” he remarked.
Instead of referring to the ensuing Huzurabad by-poll even remotely, he said the onus of making Dalit Bandhu successful lay with Huzurabad people. “If you execute it victoriously here, it would be successful all over the State and thus become role model for entire country,” he said.
Stating that Dalit Bandhu is not a government scheme but a revolution, he ridiculed apprehensions over if all dalits can be covered under it. “If the government has will, can there be short of money?,” he said.
The public meeting too was organised on a massive scale and a festive-like atmosphere was prevalent. In addition to usual flooding of the route to the venue with pink ribbons and flags, crowds dancing to drum beats came in processions. While the venue with nearly 75,000 chairs was completely packed, thousands continued to pour in buses (apparently arranged by organisers) and got stuck in traffic congestion for kilometres together.