Congress will form government at Centre: Telangana CM

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday claimed that his Congress is going to form the next government at the Centre.

Addressing a corner meeting as part of the campaign for party candidate D. Nagender in the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, he exuded confidence that the Congress will wrest the seat from the BJP.

"Secunderabad constituency's history shows that the party which wins the seat forms the government at the Centre. This time, the Congress will win this seat and form the government at the Centre," he said.

Nagender, a former minister and sitting BRS MLA from Khairatabad, joined the Congress last month and the party fielded him from Secunderabad, where Union Minister and state BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy is seeking re-election.

Revanth Reddy recalled that in 2004 when Congress candidate Anjan Kumar Yadav defeated BJP's Bandaru Dattatreya, the Congress came to power at the Centre. He predicted that this would be repeated in the May 13 elections.

The Chief Minister also stated that after winning the Secunderabad seat, Nagender will get a key position at the Centre. He said though the BJP leaders who won from this constituency became ministers at the Centre, they did nothing for the city.

He alleged that Kishan Reddy failed to get any assistance from the Centre when Hyderabad was hit by floods.

While praising BRS candidate Padma Rao as a gentleman, Revanth Reddy cautioned him not to trust BRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao and alleged that the BRS fielded Padma Rao to humiliate him.

He asked why the party chief and his son and BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao did not come when Padma Rao filed the nomination. They are not supporting him. They have mortgaged Secunderabad ticket to BJP, he said.

He claimed that it was Congress governments which developed Hyderabad. He recalled that the Metro Rail project for twin cities was developed by the Congress, which also brought water from Krishna and Godavari rivers to Hyderabad and dared the BRS for a debate on this.

Revanth Reddy, who performed puja at the Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad before campaigning, said the party always maintained communal harmony. Asserting that god should be in the temple and devotion should be in the heart, he remarked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought god into the market.

The Congress leader said PM Modi was trying to win elections by creating a communal divide. Former Indian cricket captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin, former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav and other leaders participated in the campaign.

(With inputs from IANS)