Hyderabad: Squarely blaming Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for the paddy procurement impasse, Union minister for tourism and culture G. Kishan Reddy on Sunday said, “No other state, either ruled by the BJP or other parties from Tamil Nadu to Maharashtra to Andhra Pradesh has any issues with the policy of the Central government on paddy procurement, except Telangana. The reason is because CM KCR is trying to find someone to blame for his own failures.”
He was speaking at an event to announce the upcoming national culture festival being organised in the Telugu states to celebrate India’s diverse cultural heritage.
“We got the Science Park to Telangana from the Centre but the TRS government won’t give land to enable it. We have even paid the money to the state but they are sitting on it. We got a Textile Park, one of the seven being established in the country, approved for Telangana but the KCR government does not want to even respond to our requests to initiate it. From the huge food subsidy, which he then passes on as the state government’s scheme, to claiming credit for funds under various schemes including Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana, it looks like denying credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is his only agenda,” Kishan Reddy said.
Speaking about a recent incident when he, along with senior political BJP leaders, had implored the Prime Minister to announce a freebie scheme in the Uttar Pradesh manifesto, given how important the election was politically for the party, Kisan Reddy revealed how PM Modi rejected it outright saying, “…let us rather sit in Opposition than do any politicsing which hurts the national interest,” adding, in contrast, “while we want to strengthen the nation and serve it, KCR wants to serve his family and personal interests.”
On the issue of rice, he said, “People are no longer eating boiled rice. So we have to discourage farmers from growing it. We will buy all the raw rice but Telangana has not even been able to supply the paddy procured previously.”
Announcing that India had now opened e-visa facilities for 170 countries to encourage foreign tourists, he said, “We have also waived the visa fee for many to boost tourism.”
On tourism within the country, Kishan Reddy said, “It would soon be possible for Indians to go on trains with coaches that would be designed by private parties, each devoted to a function like being a dining coach, a gym, a library on a religious pilgrimage circuit. Our goal is that every Indian with means must be encouraged to visit and discover India, and create world-class facilities.”
Speaking on the Ramappa temple, he said, “While the ASI (Archaeological Society of India) would develop the temple site, the tourism ministry has sanctioned `6 crore to restore the dilapidated mandapa to restore its erstwhile glory.” He also elaborated on how the tourism, civil aviation, railways and transport ministers were all working to ensure tourism is converted into a powerful growth engine, creating jobs in a big way.
Responding to questions on state politics, Kishan Reddy said, “CM KCR has lost it since the defeat at the hands of the BJP in Huzurabad. He is unable to accept the reality that people of Telangana have lost faith in him and will vote him out in the next elections.”
To another question on the efforts being made by the Modi government to bring back the famous Kohinoor diamond from England, he replied, “I am not aware of any official efforts being made currently about it.”
Inviting the people of Hyderabad to visit the Heritage festival on April 1, 2 and 3 being held at the NTR Stadium opposite, he said, “there will be great music and dance from different parts of India. We will be paying special tributes to two great Telugu artists we have lost recently – singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam and poet-lyricist C. Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.”
Entry to the three-day national festival is free for everyone and is arranged in an open-air stadium to take the arts to the common people, he added.
Party spokespersons Krishna Sagar Rao and N.V. Subhash and former MLC N. Ramchander Rao attended the meeting.
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