G Kishan Reddy accused K Chandrashekar Rao of consistently lying through his teeth. (File)
Union minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday hit back and accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of consistently lying through his teeth, and drew an analogy of Chief Minister with that of a "habitual liar".
Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, Mr Reddy said "Whether it is the family of KCR or himself, everyone is lying to the people of the state. He is running the BRS party through a web of lies".
The attack comes a day after Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao, who is keen on expanding the party's pan-India footprint attacked the BJP-led Centre, and said the Modi government's flagship project 'Make in India' has turned out to be 'Joke in India'.
"People in the state are not going to tolerate KCR anymore. That is why he is meeting national leaders of different states to project himself as a national leader," Mr Reddy added.
The leaders of BJP and K Chandrasekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are engaged in a war of words with state assembly elections scheduled for later this year. The BJP is looking to wrest power from the K Chandrasekar Rao-led BRS, earlier known as Telangana Rashtriya Samiti.
"He is a self-proclaimed national leader," Mr Reddy said after KCR changed the name of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in October last year.
Addressing a public rally in Maharashtra's Nanded on Sunday, KCR said, "Congress ruled the country for 54 years. BJP ruled the country for 16 years. Seventy years out of 75 years of India's independence, the country was ruled by these two parties. These two parties are responsible for all of these (problems). These two parties were busy only with speech games and scams."
Targeting the BJP government, the BRS chief said the 'Make in India' campaign achieved nothing as Chinese goods continue to swamp Indian markets.
KCR said, "Make in India has been the much-touted scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This 'Make in India' has turned out to be a 'joke in India'. If Make in India had worked then there would not have been China bazaars in every town and village across the country."
"From the manjha of kites, firecrackers for Diwali, colours for Holi to diyas and Ganesh idols for Diwali and even our Tricolour, everything comes from China. Where has the Make in India gone? Why are there China baazars everywhere instead of Bharat baazars?" he added.
In October last year, KCR launched the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), marking the first step toward becoming a national party to counter the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Notably, BRS, after it got national recognition, held its first mega rally in the presence of leaders of other regional parties like the AAP, SP and Left in Telangana's Khammam last month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)