Telangana Chief Minister KCR gives slogan of golden Bharat

Hyderabad, Feb (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday called for developing 'Bangaru Bharat' (golden Bharat) saying the country has the potential to become more prosperous than the United States.

Rao reiterated that he will play a key role in the national politics and urged people to continue their blessings in this fight to transform India into 'Bangaru Bharat' the same way Telangana was turned into 'Bangaru Telangana'.

Addressing a public meeting at Narayankhed in Sangareddy district after laying foundation stone for two lift irrigation projects, he said even seven decades after Independence, India has not achieved the development which it should have. He blamed the wrong policies pursued by successive governments at the Centre for the country not developing to its full potential.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief was addressing the public meeting a day after his visit to Mumbai, where he met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar as part of his renewed efforts to cobble together an anti-BJP front.

"Should we go to Delhi and take the country ahead on the path of progress?" he asked the audience and said the goal can be achieved with the blessings and support of people.

KCR, as the TRS leader is popularly known, said some forces were provoking and dividing people in the name of religion and caste. He claimed that Telangana has demonstrated before the nation how a government can ensure welfare of all sections of people and ensure peace and harmony.

The chief minister claimed that India has all the natural and human resources to become more prosperous than the United States. "Our students and professionals today go to the US but we can take India to a stage where people from other countries will come here," he said.

KCR listed out how Telangana achieved all-round progress in a short span of time. He recalled that many doubts were expressed during the Telangana movement. "Some people used to say that Telangana will plunge into darkness and the industries will be shut down. Today the same people who said this are facing electricity shortage," he said without naming Andhra Pradesh.

The TRS chief claimed that Telangana is the only state in the country which is supplying 24-hour quality power to all sectors. He said Telangana with drinking water supply to every household, monthly pension to widows, senior citizens, differently abled, welfare of farmers and various other schemes has become a role model for the entire country.

He claimed that no other state in the country has schemes like 'Rythu Bandhu' and 'Rythu Bhima'. Under Rythu Bandhu every farmer is getting investment support at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre every year while under 'Rythu Bandhu' Rs 5 lakh is being paid to the family of a farmer within a week after his death.

KCR said Uddhav Thackeray told him that farmers in Maharashtra districts bordering Telangana were demanding him to introduce schemes like 'Rythu Bandhu' and 'Rythu Bhima'.

Earlier, the chief minister laid the foundation for Sangameswar and Basaveswara lift irrigation projects, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 4,427 crore.

The state government called it another historic event in Telangana's irrigation sector. The projects have been taken as part of efforts to reach the goal of irrigating one crore acres of land in the state.

The two projects will irrigate 3.84 lakh acres in Andol, Narayankhed, Sangareddy and Zaheerabad Assembly constituencies in Sangareddy district.