Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at the Gannavaram airport in Vijayawada on Friday. Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Gidugu Rudra Raju is seen.
| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO
Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on November 10 said people in Telangana were looking for a change as “they are vexed with the abysmal rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).”
Addressing the media at the Gannavaram airport on his way to Telangana to participate in the election campaign for the Congress party candidates in that State, Mr. Shivakumar said reports indicated that BRS president K. Chandrasekhara Rao was not seen much at the workplace and he was confining himself to his farm house.
“We will give him permanent rest so he can relax in his farm house without having to return to work,” he said.
‘Letter to Foxconn bogus’
Replying to a query on his alleged letter to the Foxconn Chairman to relocate its unit from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Mr. Shivakumar said it was “bogus,” and that a complaint had been lodged with the cybercrime police in Bengaluru.
“Karnataka is a vibrant State with a perfect ecosystem for investments to flow in from all corners of the world. We don’t have to stoop to such low extend to attract investments, as the State is endowed with a strong government, rich resources and a suitable climate. People from across the world are interested in investing in Karnataka,” he asserted.
Referring to the five guarantees promised to the voters in the manifesto of the Congress party in Karnataka, Mr. Shivakumar said those schemes would be implemented in Telangana also.
The five guarantees
The five guarantees estimated to cost ₹50,000 crore per annum include ‘Gruha Jyothi’ providing 200 units free electricity per month to every household; ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ offering ₹2,000 every month to every woman head of the family; ‘Anna Bhagya’, under which 10-kg rice is disbursed every month to every member of the BPL family; ‘Yuva Nidhi’ that provides ₹3,000 to unemployed graduates and ₹1,500 to unemployed diploma holders (in the 18-25 age group) every month for two years; and ‘Shakti’ that offers free travel for women in ordinary public transport buses across Karnataka.
When asked about the BRS allegation that the Congress government in Karnataka had been sending money to its party unit in Telangana for elections, Mr. Shivakumar made light of it saying, “KCR is unable to sleep without thinking about us.”
Congress Working Committee member N. Raghuveera Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Gidugu Rudra Raju were among those present.
