Press Release on National Executive Meeting 2022 Telangana, Hyderabad

National Executive Committee Meeting

2, 3 July, 2022 ! Hyderabad, Telangana

Draft Press Statement on Telangana

The National Executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party expresses its deep concern over the severe deterioration across all matrices and indices relating to economic, social, and human development in the state of Telangana. This sordid degeneration that the state has witnessed over the last eight years is unparalleled and the responsibility lies squarely with the current dispensation. 

BJP spearheaded an emotional mass movement for a separate Telangana

The struggle for the separate state of Telangana, like the struggle for the liberation of Hyderabad Samsthan to ensure its merger with the Indian Union, is one of the momentous episodes in the post-independent history of India. The people of the state, especially the youth, students, and employees, sustained a long and spirited struggle to achieve a separate state. They received tremendous support from all the sections of the population. The movement in its many phases witnessed the sacrifice of scores of youth with some taking the recourse to supreme sacrifice. The collective will of the people of Telangana, amply supported by a constructive struggle of the BJP, created a compelling situation which led to the formation of Telangana state in 2014.

The struggle for the separate state of Telangana is inextricably linked to the emotions of the people.

In due appreciation of the struggle and the sacrifices made by the people, the BJP endorsed the demand for a separate state in 2006, when Sri Rajnath Singh was the President of the party. Further, the BJP as a policy has supported Babasaheb Ambedkar’s vision of smaller states, as they are amenable to faster development, better administration, and deeper political representation of all communities. A separate Telangana was therefore ripe for development, as has been proved in the case of the formation of other states such as Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand etc.

It is evident that the separate Telangana movement intensified only after the BJP plunged into it with complete earnestness and sincerity at a national level. Late Smt. Sushma Swaraj, who in Telangana is known as ‘chinnamma’held several rallies across Telangana state and, made critical interventions during the parliament to echo the mood of the then state.

It is evident that the BJP was at the forefront of the movement for a separate Telangana state and Telangana became a possibility only due to its proactive and unequivocal support.

Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyamakalu – Unfulfilled Aspirations

Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyamakalu (water, funds, and filling employment vacancies) have been the quintessential strands of the movement both in 1969 and in the second phase that lasted till the formation of Telangana in 2014.

However, eight years after the historic achievement of a separate Telangana, the people of state feel terribly betrayed as their expectations and hopes have continuously been belied. Paradoxically, those very people who reaped political benefit using the name of Telangana stood in the forefront in perpetrating a fraud on the people. Consequently, a sense of disappointment has led the aam janta of Telangana to wonder if the several sacrifices made eventually led them to witness this decline.

After eight years of the current dispensation, the position of Telangana has become far worse. The BJP did not support the Telangana movement to hand it over to the whims of a family and to enable the family to amass illicit wealth. The BJP supported Telangana with the intention that the aspirations of the people of Telangana, especially the youth, students, farmers, and other marginalized sections, would fructify. The BJP expected the problems of the marginalized and the youth to be addressed immediately. However, there has neither been any recruitment drive nor has there been any effort to uplift the marginalized, such as the Dalits and women, politically, socially, and economically.

On the contrary, apart from issuing notifications and sham announcements on infeasible schemes, nothing concrete has happened till date. The ruling dispensation had promised to fill one lakh vacancies in its 2014 manifesto but failed to do so. Similarly, the universities of Telangana, whose role was critical and crucial in the formation of Telangana, today are in dismal condition with 70% of the faculty positions remaining vacant and an acute dearth of funds for research, development and infrastructure creation. The state of school education is even worse with no recruitment of teachers and school buildings in utter dilapidation.

The hospitals in Telangana are also in a pathetic condition. It was expected that post COVID there would be a comprehensive change in the government’s attitude towards health sector. A whopping 70% of vacancies in all government hospitals and medical colleges and the pathetic state of affairs of one of the oldest hospitals in this state, namely the Osmania Hospital, sums up the government’s slipshod attitude towards the critical issue of health care.

For many reasons, historical and economic, people from north Telangana migrated to Gulf countries in search of livelihood - not that they had lavish positions there, but because they had no option. Most of the male members left their familiesbehind. As per the 2011 census, over 15 Lakh people, mostly from North Telangana, have migrated to the Gulf. The leaders of the present dispensation made tall and lofty claims that once a separate state is established; all those who had hitherto migrated would willingly come back due to the plethora of opportunities. What happened in reality during the last eight years? Migration didn’t stop. Moreover, the State government wouldn’t even come forward to rescue those facing harassment in Gulf.

When the new state of Telangana was formed in 2014, Telangana was a rich state with surplus funds. The state had a revenue surplus of Rs. 369 crores that has now become a deficit of Rs. 16,500 crores. Today, the state’s liabilities have ballooned up four times to Rs. 3.20 lakh crores.

On the issue of water, there is a mismatch between the claims of the government and the reality. The so-called flagship programme of the government, Kaleswaram, is riddled with allegations of a misappropriation of funds. The fact remains that the cost of the project has escalated from Rs. 40,000 cores to Rs. 1.30 lakh crores.

On the other hand, using Kaleswaram as a pretext, other irrigation projects have been subjected to utter neglect. For instance, the Palamur-Rangareddy project, which was meant to irrigate 18 lakh acres in the backward south Telangana, is neglected. The same has been the fate for projects such as Nettampadu, Dindi, etc.

The TRS has failed miserably on all the three metrics of the Telangana movement,Neellu, Nidhulu and Niyamakalu (water, funds, and filling employment vacancies). It would not be an exaggeration to state that the people of Telangana feel that they have fallen from the frying pan directly into the fire (penam lo nunchi poyyi loki, Tave se nikle  choolhe me gire)under the present dispensation.

Modern Day Nizam and his Razakars – A need for a new Telangana Liberation Movement

During the last eight years Telangana witnessed a brazen and blatant attempt to perpetuate a dynasty. The power that the son of the Chief Minister enjoys today, over and above other cabinet ministers, speaks for itself. Governance is centered around the family, which obviously leads to rampant corruption.

The law-and-order situation is dismal in the state. The leaders of the ruling party, their partners in power and their siblings involve in heinous crimes. The Police is misused to foist false cases on opposition parties. MLA’s children become Keechakas and a drug culture has been perpetuated due to the lack of proper vigilance. In fact, Telangana has registered the highest number of cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). As per the latest National Crime Record Bureau, the Crime rate against Women stands at 95.4 per 1 Lakh population and is among the Top-5 in the country and nearly double the national rate of 56.5. Similarly, the Crime rate against children stands at 28.9 per 1 Lakh population and is higher than the national rate of 28.9.

What we see in Telangana is sheer despotism, unbridled nepotism, and brazen arrogance, which the Telangana people have always resisted. During the 1946–48 Telangana Liberation Movement, the people were against the atrocities of Razakars who perpetrated brutality against Hindus, but they were also against the despotism of the local landlords. What we see in Telangana today is a repeat of the 1946 experience. We have a despot and we have his masquerading army in the guise of party workers, and, of course, the progeny of Kasim Rizvi (MIM) are always with the despotic Chief Minister. How else do explain the fact the most of the Rohingyas enjoy all benefits including ration cards?  How do we understand this government’s attitude towards the perpetrators and victims in the riot hit Bhainsa  town in Adilabad district which provides an illustration of this government’s overt appeasement policy?

On the other hand, Telangana is one of the largest states, with 80% of the population coming from marginalised groups. It is natural that a government which claims its roots to these sections is expected to initiate policies for their empowerment. In the absence of any substantive programme for the amelioration of their conditions, these sections are further relegated to the margins in the state of Telangana.

Moreover, when the union government took a policy decision to implement 10% reservation for economically backward classes in appreciation of the fact that poverty has neither class nor caste. It took more than 2.5 years for the Telangana government to notify reservations for Economically weaker sections. Even now the implementation is unsatisfactory and incomplete.

The BJP wanted a Telangana where all the people, especially the youth, would be happy by way of finding opportunities for employment and for the sustenance of lives and livelihoods. However, Telangana during the last eight years has witnessed a complete destruction and decimation of lives and livelihoods.

Farmers don't get adequate support from the government. In the name of Rythu Bandhu, all other subsidy provisions have been withdrawn. Further, the extreme insecurity of the current day Nizam, masquerading as a Chief Minister, stops him from implementing the Union government's welfare schemes for the farmers. 

The reason for this pathetic governance record and the current state of affairs in Telangana can be summarised in one word: -DY”NASTY”. This has been a characteristic of dynastic parties, that family and family alone matters. It is this prioritization of family interests over all other interests—national, state, and local communities, that is the sole reason for the unprecedented corruption that the state has witnessed over the last eight years.

Modi Government’s promise - Standing Shoulder to Shoulder with Telangana’s brothers and sisters

On the other hand, the union government has been making unstinting efforts to develop Telangana, notwithstanding the callous attitude of the state government.In the spirit of Co-operative Federalism, the 14th Finance Commission and the 15th Finance Commission recommend devolving 42% and 41% of the central taxes to states respectively. As a result, the amount accrued to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has significantly increased. In the last 9 budgets presented by the Narendra Modi Government between 2014 and 2022, approximately, Rs. 1.30 Lakh crore has been transferred to the state of Telangana. For a comparison of the quantum of change, Telangana region’s share was approximately ₹ 30,000 crores between 2009 and 2014 in the undivided state while the state received ₹ 70,000 crores between 2014 and 2019 in the first 5 years of Modi Sarkar.For the development of panchayats in Telangana, Rs.4,320 crore has been sanctioned by the 15^th Finance Commission, and Rs. 820 crore was released as a first installment.

The Ramagundam Fertilizer Factory, which had been closed during the Congress regime, was reopened in 2015 by Sri Narendra Modi’s government.Sri Narendra Modi's government has allocated Rs. 6,400 crores for the plant.

At the time of the formation of Telangana state in 2014, the total length of national highways was 2,511 KMs, whereas the same has increased to 4,996 KMs, an increase of 2,485 KMs in 2022, an increase of 99%. The Centre will be constructing a 340 KM length of regional ring road outside the outer ring road at a cost of 8,000 crore.With the construction of more than 2,700 KMs of roads in rural Telangana since 2014-15, it has given impetus to the economy of Telangana. Mudra loans have empowered the marginalized sections

After the formation of Telangana state, the centre’s allocation for railways has increased considerably. The railways took up different projects worth Rs. 31,281 crores in Telangana. In Telangana, during 2014-21, 321 Km sections of new line and doubling projects have been commissioned at an average rate 45.86 km per year. This is 164% more than average commissioning during 2009-14 where 17.4 Km per year was commissioned.

During the COVID-19 period, the Centre freely distributed food-grains to 1.92 crore poor people in Telangana. Close to 25 Lakh metric tons of rice was allocated for free distribution to the residents of Telangana at a cost of approximately ₹ 9,000 crores. The Centre had helped to the tune of Rs. 433.34 crores in financial assistance to street vendors under the Prime Minister’s Swanidhi Scheme.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, more than 31.43 lakh households have been provided with separate toilets from 2014 to date. Till 2014, only 27.45% of toilets were available in Telangana, whereas presently Telangana is an open-defecation free state with 100% of toilets in place.Similarly, under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, 11.11 lakh women have been allotted cooking gas connections.During the last eight years, Rs. 1,613.64 crores have been released for the development of BCs, SCs, and STs in Telangana.

BJP – The real and only option for a developed, inclusive Telangana

The BJP has been growing steadily in Telangana. In the parliamentary elections of April 2019, the BJP won four seats, TRS won 9, Congress won 3 seats, and MIM retained its seat. The BJP secured 19.45%, significantly higher than the votes it secured in 2018. Of course, the nation-wide wave in favor of Sri Narendra Modi was the quintessential factor.

In a by-election for the Assembly segment of Dubbaka held in October/November 2020, an area nestled amongst the constituencies of the incumbent Chief Minister’s son and his nephew, the BJP secured a resounding victory.

Soon after, in the Municipal Corporation elections for the Greater Hyderabad held in December 2020, the BJP surprised political pundits with 48 seats in a corporation that has 150 seats. Before that, the BJP had just 4 seats. In terms of votes, it has almost fared on par with the TRS.The BJP, after its GHMC performance, emerged as the only alternative to the TRS, dousing all the speculation as to who would become the alternative to the TRS, Congress or the BJP.

Further, in 2021, the Huzurabad by-election sealed the fate of TRS in the state.  In this election, the ruling party made it a matter of prestige and spent an obnoxious amount of money. In spite of this the BJP registered a thumping victory. Today, Huzurubad has become an example of the ruling TRS using money power to try and win elections. This has disgusted the people of Telangana and has also deterred genuine candidates wishing to serve the people to enter electoral politics. 

The growth of the BJP has obviously become an eyesore for Chief Minister and he has started a no-holds-bar criticism against the Union Government.  Further, the success of rhe Prajasangrama Yatra launched by the Party president has already completed two phases and has been receiving overwhelming support from the people. This has further upset the Chief Minister who has now become insecure and superstitious. In fact, on many occasions the Chief Minister’s language is cheap, offensive and obnoxious – unbecoming for a Chief Minister.

The frustration of the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues clearly reflect the fact that BJP is growing stronger in the state. It is evident that only a double engine government whose conviction is nation and nation alone would be able to lend meaning to the spirited struggle of the people of Telangana.

Under these circumstances, the BJP, with its nation-first conviction and focus, and with an impeccable track record of corruption-free and scam-free governance, can only understand the aspirations and expectations of the people of Telangana.

The BJP will make an endeavor to place a viable alternative that truly realizes the aspirations of the martyrs before the people and eventually convince them to throw out this dynastic and corrupt government.