HYDERABAD: The Telangana BJP has sharply criticised the Congress government for renaming the Annapurna canteens offering subsidised meals after Indira Gandhi, amid the nation’s remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by the former prime minister.
Speaking at the state BJP Office, Medak MP M. Raghunandan Rao accused the Congress government of lacking the courage to fulfil its election promises after 18 months in power, instead resorting to renaming schemes to distract the public. “Why is there a need to rename the Annapurna scheme, which provides food at `5, to Indiramma now? The BJP governments never renamed schemes after individuals, but Congress puts Indiramma’s name on everything, unaware that the name reminds people of dark days,” he said.
The MP asked Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to stop renaming schemes, reduce the public stunts and focus on fulfilling the promises made to people before elections.
Raghunandan Rao also accused the state government of cheating beneficiaries in the Indiramma housing scheme by allotting houses to Congress activists. He alleged that telephone tapping under the BRS government began during the Dubbak by-election. He said the list of tapping targets were submitted to the DGP but no action taken. The list not yet been submitted to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the case, he alleged.
On the Kaleshwaram scheme, Raghunandan Rao charged both Congress and BRS with colluding to deceive the public. He also claimed the Telangana government’s BC bill included unconstitutional religious reservations for minorities and that BRS had historically done injustice to BCs.
Telangana BJP chief spokesperson N.V. Subhash condemned the decision to rename the subsidized food scheme, emphasising that ‘Annapurna’ symbolised the divine mother who nourishes the world. Replacing this sacred name with that of Indira Gandhi — whose regime had imposed the Emergency — was an insult to Hindu traditions and national memory, he claimed.
He accused the Congress of systematic minority appeasement while disregarding Hindu majority sentiments. He alleged the party’s actions — from questioning the Ram Mandir to ridiculing Sanatan Dharma and renaming schemes — reflect a broader agenda to undermine Hindu civilizational ethos for vote-bank politics.
