BJP win in Telangana bypoll will signal TRS end: Amit Shah

HYDERABAD: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday led the saffron blitzkrieg against the K Chandrashekhar-led TRS government in Telangana from battleground Munugode, 85km off Hyderabad, where a bypoll is being held in the run-up to the high-stakes assembly polls next year.
Calling an end to the “corrupt” TRS regime at the “samara bheri (war cry)” rally, Shah urged voters to ensure the victory of BJP candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, whose resignation from Congress and the Munugode seat necessitated the bypoll. “Raj Gopal Reddy’s poll victory is not just for Munugode, but the beginning of the end of the TRS regime, which will sink into oblivion after the assembly elections.”
Telangana will soon have a BJP CM and Raj Gopal's bypoll victory will be the harbinger, Shah declared.
“The ‘samara bheri’ rally is not just about welcoming Raj Gopal to the BJP fold; it has larger ramifications. There’s an urgent need to end corruption and suffering under the TRS regime. Let’s join hands to defeat this government and allow Telangana to prosper like otherstates under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership,” he said.
The home minister launched attack at the chief minister for allegedly reneging on his promise to commemorate September 17 as Telangana Liberation Day. “Every promise made was forgotten. BJP will implement this when it takes over the reins,” he said while accusing TRS of siding with “razakars” in an oblique reference to its ally, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM.
He also accused KCR of going back on his promise of 2BHK flats, the Dalit Bandhu scheme and unemployment benefits. “Leave alone housing schemes, the TRS government is now allowing construction of toilets under the Centre’s flagship project. ”
On jobs in Telangana, Shah said, “Did teachers’ recruitment happen since2014? Have tribals got even a single acre of land under the present regime.”
He also sought to highlight high inflation in the state as the outcome of the state government’s refusal to reduce VAT on fuel. “PM Modi twice slashed fuel prices, but if there’s any state government that has not reduced VAT on petrol, it’s Telangana.”
Shah claimed Telangana was trapped in a loan bubble despite the Centre allocating Rs 2 lakh crore to the state. He alleged many irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project.
Sharing the podium with Shah, BJP Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman said Telangana politics would undergo a paradigm shift after the Munugode bypoll. “People are fed up with TRS dominance and want a change of regime. Only BJP can usher that change.”