KCR echoes ‘ab ki baar, kisan sarkar’; calls for unity among farmers to install their govt

NANDED: President of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K Chandrashekar Rao has made a spirited appeal to farmers of Maharashtra to be united to install a farmer’s’ government at Delhi, even as slogans of “ab ki baar, kisan sarkar” rent the air.

KCR has urged them to realise when free electricity to farmers, crop subsidiary (rythu bandhu), insurance to farmers (rythu beema), non-refundable assistance to eligible Dalit families (Dalit bandhu) were possible in Telangana, why is it not possible elsewhere in India.

Amid cheers, he has announced that BRS Government, if voted to power, will give free power to farmers across the country within two years.

Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the main culprits for the continued drought conditions in Maharashtra despite ruling the country for most of the time since India's independence, said KCR. Addressing a historic public meeting, the first ever outside Telangana, of the BRS in Nanded of Maharashtra, the Telangana Chief Minister squarely blamed the two national parties for playing petty politics and failing to harness the 70,000 TMCs of precious water that is going waste into the seas every year.

Calling for the emulation of Telangana's model of governance and welfare across the country, he appealed to the people of Maharashtra to vote for the BRS to arrest the spate of farmers' suicides that are rampant in Maharashtra. "Why are there so many farmers suicides in Maharashtra that has many rivers flowing through its land? The Congress and the BJP were only simply watching the fun without making any effort to tap the precious water for the benefit of the farmers and people," he said.

KCR said that time had come for the country and Maharashtra to choose the BRS to benefit from the novel welfare schemes that are being successfully implemented in Telangana. He announced that Telangana's innovative schemes like Dalit Bandhu and Rythu Bandhu would also be extended to the rest of the country if the BRS came to power.

Below are the highlights of KCR's speech in Nanded:

♦ First, I salute the soil of Maharashtra that gave birth to great leaders like Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr BR Ambedkar, Dr Jyothirao Phule, Maa Savitri Bhai.

♦ BRS, in its new form took birth, only recently. Earlier, as TRS, it was only confined to Telangana. After assessing the situation prevailing in the country and the need to bring in transformation, we have realised that we had to work at the national level.

♦ BRS is getting great reception across the country.

♦ Please initiate discussion after going back from here on the issues I spoke about.

♦ There is a grave need for transforming the thought process and the style of functioning in the country.

♦ There were several leaders that we elected so far. People indulge only in big talk. We get to hear so many things.

♦ The points I'm putting before you now is no rocket science.

♦ Even after 75 years of Independence, the country is still craving for drinking water and electricity. What is the problem?

♦ Today, it pains me to see maximum farmers die by suicide in Maharashtra. A person takes this extreme step only out of helplessness and in depression when all the doors and options are closed. Why will a farmer do this leaving all his kith and kin in despair? Why is this a problem in this country?

♦ The BRS slogan 'Ab ki baar Kisaan Sarkar' stemmed from this predicament and the thought to change this situation.

♦ This is not impossible if the country is not divided in the name of religion.

♦ There are more than 40 percent of farmers in the country. The power of 'kisaan' is enough to form the government.

♦ Please initiate the discussion on whether what KCR said is possible or not.

♦ I'm fully confident that India is a country of sharp minds and not numbskulls.

♦ When it mattered, history is proof that many influential leaders were thrown out of power.

♦ Besides using the plow to till their lands, farmers should also learn to use the pen and script the law.

♦ When elections happen, some parties win but ultimately, it is the people that lose. This has to change. People should be the winners and not political parties.

♦ You would be surprised, I have put in 50 years in politics, serving at various levels. Our country is wealthier than the United States.

♦ Had only the leaders been competent, India could have emerged more powerful than the US but it did not happen.

♦ Do we have wealth in India? Nature and God gave us precious things -- water, land and coal.

♦ Only 39 percent of US land is ideal for cultivation. Same with China.

♦ Only in India, there is 50 percent land that is ideal for cultivation.

♦ India receives 1.4 lakh TMCs of water through rains. After evaporation, 70,000 TMCs of water runs through our rivers into the seas.

♦ In this, over 50,000 TMCs of water is going waste into the seas. Our leaders are simply watching fun.

♦ There is water scarcity in every pocket in the country.

♦ Maharashtra has several rivers running through it including Krishna and Godavari. Why are there water scarcity and drought conditions in Maharashtra?

♦ Who is the culprit for this predicament?

♦ Who ran the country in the last 75 years? Congress ruled for 54 years, the BJP has ruled or has been ruling for 16 years.

♦ Congress and the BJP are the prime culprits for the drought conditions in the state.

♦ We are not attacking anyone individually. We are only recalling the history.

♦ Had there really been a solution to this problem? Congress and the BJP are only indulging in a blame game.

♦ They are only biding time by trading charges. One made Ambani wealthier and the other one now, Ambani.

♦ When Honourable Narendra Modi became prime minister, they came up with 'Make in India'. It became a 'Joke in India'.

♦ In every town, China Bazaars are thriving. Right from the manja of kites to Deewali lamps, everything is imported from China.

♦ Where has the 'Make in India' spirit gone? There should instead be 'Bharat Bazaars'.

♦ For how long this farce will continue in the country?

♦ Please don't listen to me and ignore what I say. Please initiate discussion in your villages on these aspects.

♦ We are only getting rhetoric, in the name of 'Man Ki Baat' and nothing else.

♦ Farmers, youths, educated, intellectuals and everyone, I request with folded hands, please introspect on these issues.

♦ Why should the farmers die by suicide?

♦ This is the reason why we gave the slogan 'ab ki baar kisaan sarkaar'.

♦ There will be pure, drinking water to every household.

♦ When I became the chief minister of Telangana, there was no water, no electricity with poverty all round. There were a host of problems.

♦ With 7-8 years of hard work and relentless efforts, we are now able to give 24-hour electricity.

♦ Farmers get abundant water. No one has guts to harass farmers insisting on agriculture electricity motors.

♦ For farmers, we have 100 percent insurance. If unfortunately, any farmer dies, within 10 days, Rs 5 lakh insurance amount reaches his house.

♦ We buy every foodgrain produced in Telangana. Why are these initiatives not there in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere in the country?

♦ It is because, there are no farmer-friendly governments. We made that possible in Telangana. Do you want a similar government in the rest of the country?

♦ Except in Telangana, there is no electricity supply in the country without interruptions. Why is this scenario?

♦ The country has a natural wealth of 361 billion tonnes of coal reserves. We can provide abundant supply of electricity to the country with these reserves.

♦ Then, why farmers and people are not getting these facilities? There is clearly something fishy in this.

♦ Until we don't unite and fight for our rights, we cannot hope for a better fortune.

♦ Despite being a great nation, we are being divided in the name of religion, caste and other petty issues.

♦ Is it only the goal of our country to win the election at any cost? For how long will you keep electing vote-beggars like this? Don't you get tired?

♦ Leaders' fortunes are changing but not that of the farmers.

♦ It has to happen across the country like it happened in Telangana.

♦ Until, we realise this grave injustice, we will not be liberated. Farmers will keep dying by suicide.

♦ Please vote BRS to power, we will transform Maharashtra into a vibrant state just like we did it in Telangana.

♦ Maharashtra has an annual budget of Rs 5 lakh crores as against Telangana's Rs 2.4 lakh crores.

♦ So, there is no dearth of money in Maharashtra. What is lacking is the will to strive for the welfare of the people.

♦ Leaders are never born from thin air. They come from within us.

♦ Balka Suman, a Telangana MP, is one such leader who rose from amidst the people.

♦ Not a single word of sympathy from the Prime Minister, not even a drop of tear from him over the spate of farmers' suicides.

♦ When asked, he retorts, if the farmers died for him. I'm a supporter of farmers and their welfare.

♦ I want to ensure that the farmers' suicide are pre-empted in the country at any cost.

♦ Farmers should get abundant water and uninterrupted power supply.

♦ Show your strength in the coming Zilla Parishad elections and the government of Maharashtra will be on its knees.