Hyderabad: When he told his ministers, leaders and workers to work as a "coolie" for two days to raise money for a grand party convention, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had promised to lead by example. On Friday, his son and the powerful IT Minister KT Rama Rao took the hint and turned up at an ice-cream parlour, borrowed an apron from the helper and got down to the job.
Reports said he was out of Suchitra ice-cream parlour along the Hyderabad-Nagpur National Highway in less than an hour and yet, had made a cool Rs 7.5 lakh. That is lot more than what the parlour makes in a month.
But he had some pretty rich customers, mostly party politicians. For one, the 63-year-old Malla Reddy who didn't go to college in his younger days but owns a chain of engineering colleges in the state. Mr Reddy is a lawmaker in parliament, elected on the rival TDP ticket, who switched sides last year. He spent a whopping Rs 5 lakhs for an ice-cream, and he isn't complaining.
Lawmakers from the Andhra-Telangana belt are among the richest in the country; the education baron had declared assets worth Rs 48 crore in 2014.
There will be more such gestures within the next one week that Chief Minister, also known as KCR, calls "Gulaabi Cooli Dinalu'' or "Pink Labourer Days" (pink is the colour of the TRS).
For someone who spent Rs 5.5 crores of taxpayers' money for his Rs 5-crore gift to Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala, KCR's initiative is curious.
According to the Chief Minister, the money that the party leaders earn during their two-days of hard labour will be used to meet the expenses of the grand annual convention of the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti or TRS on April 21, followed by a public meeting to be held at Warangal next Friday.
He had added that the party had already collected "nearly 35 crore rupees in membership fee and that is reaching our party bank account".
That is almost four times the Rs 8.9 crore that the TRS had declared as its income in 2015-16 to the Election Commission. In 2015, it had declared an income of Rs 24.6 crore. In both years, according to its statement of accounts, it spent every penny that it earned during the year.
Reports said he was out of Suchitra ice-cream parlour along the Hyderabad-Nagpur National Highway in less than an hour and yet, had made a cool Rs 7.5 lakh. That is lot more than what the parlour makes in a month.
But he had some pretty rich customers, mostly party politicians. For one, the 63-year-old Malla Reddy who didn't go to college in his younger days but owns a chain of engineering colleges in the state. Mr Reddy is a lawmaker in parliament, elected on the rival TDP ticket, who switched sides last year. He spent a whopping Rs 5 lakhs for an ice-cream, and he isn't complaining.
There will be more such gestures within the next one week that Chief Minister, also known as KCR, calls "Gulaabi Cooli Dinalu'' or "Pink Labourer Days" (pink is the colour of the TRS).
Advertisement
According to the Chief Minister, the money that the party leaders earn during their two-days of hard labour will be used to meet the expenses of the grand annual convention of the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti or TRS on April 21, followed by a public meeting to be held at Warangal next Friday.
Advertisement
That is almost four times the Rs 8.9 crore that the TRS had declared as its income in 2015-16 to the Election Commission. In 2015, it had declared an income of Rs 24.6 crore. In both years, according to its statement of accounts, it spent every penny that it earned during the year.
COMMENTS
Advertisement
3 People Die After Drowning In Lake In Telangana: Cops Bus Conductor Misbehaves With Woman Passenger In Telangana, Taken Into Police Custody 12-Year-Old Girl Among 3 Drown At Quarry Pit In Telangana: Cops World's Largest Isolated Tribe Makes Rare Appearance In New Footage Barack Obama Wants Joe Biden To Pull Out Of US Presidential Race: Report 32 Dead In Bangladesh Unrest, Protesters Set Fire To State TV Headquarters Comedy Legend Bob Newhart Dead At 94: Publicist Israeli Strike Kills Field Commander In Elite Hezbollah Unit: Report Delhi-San Francisco Air India Flight Diverted To Russia After Engine Glitch Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.