Modi, KCR no different; BJP, TRS hand in glove: Rahul Gandhi

HYDERABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday likened Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the two had similar mindset.

Addressing a corner meeting at Muthangi on the outskirts of Hyderabad as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, The Wayanad MP said that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were hand in glove. "I have seen the TRS and the BJP working together," he quipped.

Extending the comparison between the two leaders, Rahul Gandhi said that the two leaders were adept at bullying the public and the media. Referring to his interactions with the workforce of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited Employees (BDL), the Congress leader said that he could feel the panic among the employees created by the BJP with its moves to privatise the two PSUs.

"Managements and employees of all Public Sector Undertakings are worried about the prospect of privatisation. These PSUs are India's assets. The BJP intends to gift these to their friendly corporate entities. The BJP will not support BHEL and BDL once they are handed over to their friends," he alleged.

Claiming that Congress would fight for the rights of workers and employees, he vowed that his party, if in power, would not let these PSUs privatised.

He slammed Narendra Modi and K Chandrasekhar Rao saying that the Telangana Chief Minister was following in the footsteps of the Prime Minister and learning from the latter on how to destroy the State. KCR is grabbing people's lands, given to them in the past by the Congress governments. "He browses the Dharani portal everyday to know how much land was taken away from the Adivasis and poor people," he commented.

Rahul Gandhi went on to say, "The purpose of this yatra is to condemn the hatred and violence that is spreading throughout the country. The BJP and the RSS are trying to foment hatred and spread violence across the country. Their ultimate goal is to instill fear among people. The main aim of the yatra is to unite India and give voice to people who are suffering because of the politics of hatred being pursued by the dictatorial regime at the Centre and due to high rate of unemployment and inflation."

"When the entire opposition resisted the farmer's bill in Lok Sabha, the KCR party supported it. They back the BJP in all aspects in Parliament. Prime Minister Modi once used to be very vocal about the increase in the prices of cooking gas cylinders but now, he refuses to talk about the gas and petrol price-rise under his rule. Like Modi, KCR too said nothing about it," he remarked.

Rahul Gandhi promised that the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which will enter its 57th day on Thursday, was aimed to unite the country to usher in a new India that is free of hatred, unemployment and poverty.