KCR calls Modi India’s most inefficient PM, predicts BJP’s defeat in 2024; stresses need for BRS

HYDERABAD: “I am 100 percent sure that the Narendra Modi-led BJP would be wiped out from Delhi after the 2024 elections,” thundered Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on Sunday.

Delivering his speech on the Telangana Appropriation Bill in the Legislative Assembly before it was unanimously passed by the House, the Chief Minister reeled out statistical details to expose the Modi government’s failures on all fronts and its anti-people’s policies. In the same breath, he showcased with examples as to why the country was in need of a BRS Government at the Centre to witness a revolutionised approach of delivering people-friendly governance and a host of welfare schemes.

During his marathon address to the House, lasting almost three hours, KCR spoke on merits to say how the country had been betrayed by the current dispensation. Instead of admitting its follies and focussing on course-correction, the Modi government is constantly in the denial mode while unleashing tactics of intimidation to silence its critics.

The Telangana Chief Minister minced no words to rate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government as the worst performer in India’s history and ridiculed the NDA regime for its brazen attempts to seek high points even in their failures and inefficiencies.

KCR began by reiterating the injustice being done to Telangana by the Centre, something he has been most vocal and critical about on every available platform. He said that Telangana had lost about Rs three lakh crores of GSDP since the time the Modi government came to power at the Centre in 2014, all thanks to its non-cooperation.

“India was defeated due to the aimless meandering of the Modi regime which resulted in failures in every sector. Consequent to the country’s downfall, even Telangana ended up being defeated. The state’s GSDP currently stands at Rs 13.16 lakh crores which is against the projected figure of Rs 16 lakh crores by now. At this rate, Telangana has lost out on Rs 3 lakh crores of its due in GSDP and the Centre is only to blame for this,” he told the Assembly.

The Telangana Chief Minister extensively quoted from the budget figures audited by the Comptroller and Auditor’s General (CAG), noted economists and world-renowned business magazines to claim that the Narendra Modi government was concealing hard facts to cover up its failures.

Listing out comparative statistics, he stated emphatically that key performance indicators on all fronts showed a dismal show by the Narendra Modi government in its nine-year rule in comparison with the nine years of Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime. The key indicators that KCR referred to included annual growth rate, per capita income, debt to GDP ratio, fiscal deficit and capital formation.

“Noted independent economist Puja Mehra, in her book ‘The Lost Decade’, came up with a like-to-like comparison of Manmohan Singh and Modi governments. Is there really one sector that witnessed growth under Narendra Modi? She has encapsulated exactly this.

“Under the congress-led UPA, the annual growth rate was 6.8 percent. The same under the NDA came down to 5.5 percent. Irony is, the Congress never shows the appetite to highlight this. These are not my claims but an analysis of budgets and audited figures of the CAG.

“Similarly, the growth rate in per capita income during Manmohan Singh’s nine-year rule as Prime Minister was 12.73 percent. Registering at 7.1 percent, it almost halved under the aegis of Modi. And yet, the Modi bhakts unabashedly indulge in tall claims on these fronts,” KCR commented.

“The debt to GDP ratio under Manmohan since 2004 was 66.7 percent. The same plummeted by 12 percent to 52 percent during Modi rule. The debts under Manmohan Singh in 2014 were around 52 percent while it soared to 56 percent during Narendra Modi’s prime-ministership,” he said.

KCR also sought to impress upon the House as to how the inept policies of successive government at the Centre had neglected core areas of drinking water, electricity, agriculture and irrigation water with their short-sighted objectives and vested interests. Amid cheers from the treasury benches, the BRS supremo announced that his party would provide a 24-hour uninterrupted supply of electricity, drinking water to every household and abundant irrigation water to the farmers across the country, when it came to power at the Centre.

“New irrigation policy needs to be drafted for the country. Congress and BJP failed to do this in the 70-odd years of independent India. Our government, which will come to power next, will do what it has been successfully implementing in Telangana. We will give water to every household. The country can boast of surplus electricity if the 50,000-odd TMCs going waste into the seas are properly harnessed. There are about 361 billion coal reserves in the country. Even if 40 percent of it can be extracted, that can provide electricity to the country for 120 years,” he said.

The governments at the Centre were never interested in these aspects as they were only focussed on benefitting their cronies with vested interests.

“India boasts of a good quality coal available in Chattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand, And yet, 300 million tonnes of coal is being imported from Australia only to benefit corporates that are friendly to the Centre. They also threaten the states to buy this coal at Rs 35,000 per tonne as against its available rate in India of Rs 3,000 per tonne,” he said.

Why is PM tightlipped on Adani Group crisis?

Referring to the Adani Group crisis following a damning revelation by Hindenburg Research of alleged stock manipulation by the Indian behemoth, KCR wondered why the Prime Minister had been maintaining a stoic silence even when the world and global investors were seeking reassuring gestures from the Indian government.

Referring to an article published by The Economist, KCR said: “Here is a piece published by the renowned international business magazine that is widely read and respected by economists. ‘The Parabole of Adani – The humbling of a tycoon is a test for Indian capitalism’ is its headline. Everyone including the BRS is asking what the Centre is going to do. No response. The Prime Minister is tightlipped. No effort is being made to dispel the apprehensions of foreign investors. Adani’s USD 112 billion were lost within days. Mistakes do happen while running governments. One should be gracious to admit them and take remedial measures instead of shirking the responsibility,” he said.

On a lighter note, he said that he was glad Adani did not set up shop in Telangana. “They very much wanted to come to Telangana. A suitable land was also identified in Mulugu. But, I’m glad in the hindsight now that the idea did not come through,” he quipped.

Why should BJP get even a single vote from Telangana?

KCR was also critical of the Centre’s step-motherly treatment of Telangana in every aspect including budgetary allocations and devolution of funds.The Chief Minister expressed his dismay at the Centre for not considering even a single medical and nursing college for the state out of the 157 each sanctioned for the country.

“Not even one new medical college and nursing college for Telangana. Is this the spirit of federalism? If the Centre thinks that Telangana was not worthy of even one medical college, then why should the BJP even get a single vote from the State? Tribal university remains a hollow assurance, just like many others. Our Minister Satyavati Rathod made more than five visits to Delhi in this connection but with no desired response from the Centre.

“Telangana got a raw deal even in the allocation of post-bifurcation funds. The Rs 495 crore Central funds wrongly allocated to Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation have not yet been reversed to Telangana despite several requests and reminders,” he lamented.

Some highlights of KCR’s speech:

♦ Modi speaks of ‘revdi culture’ to mock freebies given by states. His own government distributes free rice when there are elections. Isn’t this hypocrisy?

♦ Exports are the key for any country’s growth. China, which is dominating the world, is an example. Where does India stand?

♦ No drinking water, irrigation water and electricity. No basic needs. This is the plight of the country.

♦ Since the BJP came to power, 20 lakh Indians have relinquished their Indian citizenship. It’s a shame for the governments at the Centre when people celebrate their children obtaining green cards in the US.

♦ I have always said that people should be the victors in elections. But while parties and leaders are winning, people are losing as they are being betrayed by the governments.

♦ Manmohan Singh performed better than Modi but he never craved for publicity like the latter.

♦ With 25 crore policy holders, LIC is considered the soul of the country. But the Modi government is looking to sell even this one off. It is being pushed into doldrums.

♦ The speech of Narendra Modi in Parliament is the most disgusting ever by a prime minister. He was anguished that his friend lost heavily and hence kept beating around the bush.

♦ Why deflect the attention by talking against Nehru and Indira, instead of addressing the Adani crisis? Modi and Rahul Gandhi were like ‘Chote bhai subhanallah bade bhai mashaallah’. They indulged in slanging match in Parliament.

♦ Renowned economist Ashwath Damodaran claims there is more to the Adani share manipulation. What happened is only the tip of an iceberg.

♦ No allocations for Telangana in the Union Budget 2023.

♦ Calls and claims of USD 5-trillion economy by 2025-26 is a big joke. Still, India is only at USD 3.3 trillion. The Centre does not want to address it.

♦ BJP is not interested in focusing on serious concerns. It is only indulging in bulldozing and jingoism in Parliament.

♦ Attempts to ban BBC in India for its documentary exposes BJP’s arrogance and intolerance.

♦ Never in history was there a government so vindictive and parochial. Privatisation is going on endlessly.

♦ The Modi government reversed Air India’s nationalisation done by Jawaharlal Nehru to give the aviation entity back to the Tatas.

♦ The Prime Minister says the government has no business to do business. We say the government has the responsibility to do business everywhere it is required.

♦ State’s market intervention fund itself is a sign of the government doing business to provide succour to the poor sections.

♦ Growth rate of exports year by year under Manmohan Singh was 19.5 percent. During Modi’s rule, it is only 4.9 percent. Has Make in India become a Joke in India? Where is the Viswa Guru hiding?

♦ I will resign if these statistics are wrong. These are hard facts by CAG.

♦ Rupee’s worst fall was witnessed in the Modi regime. While the rupee was at 58.6 against the US dollar, the same is now 82.6. This is a 24-point steep fall of rupee under Modi.

♦ Both Congress and the BJP are the same. The economist said that in Congress-led UPA, it was licence raj and now it was silence raj.

♦ No data available on the claims that Rs 20 lakh crores were given to MSMEs. As Chidambaram once said, NDA means ‘no data available’. Even on COVID-19 deaths, it is NDA - no data available.

♦ Isn’t it a shame that India’s finance minister fights with a ration shop dealer in Banswada for PM’s photo? Why should Modi’s photo be displayed and for what achievements?

♦ Medical colleges were not given. Satyavathi Rathod visited Delhi 5 times. The land in Mulugu was handed over five years ago.

♦ In Parliament, if the BRS members ask about Tribal University, they blatantly lie, claiming that the state government had given them no information.

♦ Telangana contributes 4.9 percent to India’s GDP and yet nothing was allotted and no funds allocated.

♦ Modi’s claims did not match the reality of demonetisation. I trusted what he said then. But now, the currency in circulation is over 33 lakh crores as against 16 lakh crores prior to demonetisation.

♦ The country also suffers due to very poor infrastructure, another area that was grossly neglected.

♦ No Prime Minister before Modi craved so much to inaugurate trains. Vande Bharat is very fragile. How many times will he inaugurate the same Vande Bharat? He did it 14 times so far.

♦ While Modi inaugurates Vande Bharat time and again, a Union minister unabashedly dedicates railway station lifts to the nation. Is this the system of governing the country?

♦ Why is the Modi government not undertaking a census? The process of Census in India began in 1871. Census was never stopped In the last 140 years until 2011.

♦ These people (the BJP and the Centre) are scared that their follies and hollowness would be exposed if census was taken up. Without census, you will never have basic input. The Modi government does not undertake this because it wants to govern by arm-twisting and bullying.

♦ Me and Modi parallelly became the Chief Minister and Prime Minister respectively around the same time. Vexed with Modi’s policies, I have chosen the confrontational approach. Babli is nothing in TMC size. Right in front of our eyes, 2,000 TMCs are going waste into the sea.

♦ Why can’t we have agreements between states if the Centre does not solve the river water issues for decades? Didn’t we do the same for Kaleswaram? Isn’t Maharashtra taking 240 TMCs from Kaleshwaram? 40,000 TMCs sufficient for the country’s needs. We will also have surplus. We don’t have to bow before the World Bank. We don’t need Viswa Guru for this.

♦ We have been giving 24-hour uninterrupted power supply for over five years. Still, some people are spreading falsehood.

♦ I gave strict instructions that there should not be a stray power cut for a minute even if it meant an additional cost of Rs 5,000 crores. Are the Congress, BJP-led states giving 24 hour supply?

♦ BRS has emerged to do what is best for the people and what had been ignored over the last 70 odd years. We have definitely done some very good work in Telangana.