Telangana CM Revanth Reddy accused former CM KCR of deceiving and insulting the Dalit community by breaking the promise of a Dalit CM and later revoking the Deputy CM post. Reddy contrasted this with his government elevating multiple Dalit leaders.
CM Reddy Accuses KCR of Betraying Dalit Community
Telangana Chief Minister blasted former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for insulting Dalits during the BRS regime and also as the opposition in the Assembly, a release said.
Speaking in the Assembly today, the Chief Minister said that KCR made the promise of the Dalit leader as the first CM of Telangana. "The BRS President deceived the entire dalit community and assumed the office of Chief Minister. During the second term, the then CM KCR revoked the Deputy CM post and humiliated the entire community in the state", it added.
The Chief Minister criticised the BRS President for giving only a single cabinet to the Dalit leader Koppula Eshwar in 2018. The opposition leader in the Assembly Bhatti Vikramarka was also stripped off the post for questioning the government in the assembly. "KCR could not tolerate having a Dalit serve as the Leader of the Opposition simply because he was questioning the government".
Congress Government Elevates Dalit Leaders
CM Revanth Reddy noted that the Congress Government elevated Bhatti Vikramarka as Deputy CM and also Finance minister. The CM took strong exception to BRS leaders humiliating remarks against the Finance minister.
"Bhatti Vikramarka, Damodara Raja Narasimha, Seethakka, Vivek Venkataswamy, Adluri Lakshman, Ramachandra Naik, Vemula Veeresham, Addanki Dayakar and many dalit leaders were given prominent positions in the government. The previous BRS government accorded priority to only KTR and Harish Rao, Dayakar Rao and Vindo Rao, the CM charged, as per release.
BRS Accused of Disrespecting Assembly and Speaker
The CM alleged that KCR was not attending the assembly because the BRS leader does not want to face a Dalit Speaker in the house. "The BRS members were also humiliating the speaker by stalling the house continuously."
CM Revanth Reddy appealed to the Speaker to take action against BRS MLA P Kaushik Reddy for his unruly behaviour. "On Harish Rao's advice, the matter should be referred to the Ethics Committee."
CM Revanth Reddy took a strong dig at the BRS over defections encouraged in the previous government in 2014 and 2018 and also objected to insulting remarks made against minister Sitakka, as per the release.
Defense of Senior Leaders and Call for Decorum
The CM asserted that members should speak in the house only with the permission of the Speaker. "Kadiyam Srihari is a leader of stature equal to that of KCR. No one in this country can ever cast doubt upon the honesty and commitment of Srihari".
The Chief Minister said that "insulting the senior leaders in the house is unwarranted" (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)