Hyderabad: Taking a jibe at BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao for his comments that Telangana people have realised what they lost with the defeat of his party in the assembly polls, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday said the people have lost nothing and do not need the former Chief Minister.
Speaking at an event where appointment letters were distributed to newly recruited Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors, Reddy, without naming KCR, said there was no problem for the people due to the former Chief Minister's absence and that Telangana society had already forgotten him.
"What have they (the people) lost? Four in your family have lost jobs. Is there anything that Telangana society has lost?" Mr Reddy asked.
Highlighting the Congress government's schemes, he said that in 10 months since the change of regime, thousands of youth had secured jobs, a crop loan waiver had been implemented for over 22 lakh farmers at Rs 18,000 crore, over one crore women were travelling free of cost in state-run buses, the poor were receiving free electricity up to 200 units, and poor women were receiving LPG cylinders for Rs 500, among other benefits.
The Congress government had also conducted the Group-1 services exam, the first since 2011 in undivided Andhra Pradesh, he said, adding, "Soon, 563 officers would be appointed".
Mr Reddy also listed measures to build new hospitals and initiatives in education, stating that people had received all these benefits as part of the "reconstruction of Telangana." KCR, who is the main opposition leader, is not attending the assembly sessions, and the government is asking him to attend the house, Reddy said.
In a veiled attack on BRS Working President K T Rama Rao over a case registered against his brother-in-law following a "raid" at the latter's farmhouse, Reddy said Diwali was being celebrated with liquor bottles instead of firecrackers.
"Who should be role models? Those who fought for Independence or Telangana statehood, or those who take drugs in farmhouses? Telangana society needs to think," he said.
Mr Reddy added that the Transport Department should take tougher measures to check the smuggling of narcotics by vehicles on the road.
He also stated that 50,000 government job vacancies had been filled since the Congress government assumed office in December last year.
On November 8, Chandrasekhar Rao expressed confidence that the BRS would come to power after the next assembly elections in Telangana in 2028. Addressing a gathering of party activists, he had said that people had realised what they had lost with the defeat of BRS in the assembly polls last year.
Mr Rao has kept a low profile in recent months following his party's assembly poll defeat, with his son and BRS Working President K T Rama Rao leading the party's programmes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)