Hyderabad, Nov 5 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday challenged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for a public debate on the development of Hyderabad, accusing the Congress government of failing the city during its two-year rule.
He said that the BRS is ready to discuss - in any language and at any venue - what the party achieved for Hyderabad during its 10 years in power and what the Congress has delivered in the last two years.
He was speaking while releasing the party's progress report for the Jubilee Hills constituency as part of its campaign for the November 11 bye-election.
"If Revanth Reddy has the courage, he should fix the date, time and place. Be it Command Control, Gandhi Bhavan or the Assembly - we are ready," KTR said, daring the Chief Minister to come forward and let the people decide whose record is genuine.
KTR listed out the civic achievements from the BRS years and contrasted them with what he described as Congress' inaction.
He recalled the construction of 42 flyovers and multiple underpasses, improvements in sanitation under initiatives such as Swachh Hyderabad and SNDP and the delivery of large numbers of double-bedroom houses.
The former minister accused the present government of halting or reversing many projects, allowing potholes, water tanker dependence and rising crime rates to blight the city.
On infrastructure, KTR challenged the Congress to point to a single new road, LED-lighting installation, nursery or metro expansion completed in the past two years. He reminded crowds that the Hyderabad Metro and several city-shaping projects were initiated under the BRS administrations, and accused the present government of demolishing thousands of houses without offering replacement housing.
KTR also hit back at allegations and levelled by the state government and the investigations announced by it.
He dismissed recent probes, including those around Formula E and other notices, as diversionary tactics and reiterated his offer for a live lie-detector test to settle claims of wrongdoing. "Whoever is a thief will be exposed," he said, challenging the CM to a public accountability face-off.
KTR accused the Congress and BJP of forming an "unprincipled alliance" in Telangana and criticised remarks by some leaders that, he said, insult minorities.
He demanded that Revanth Reddy apologise for statements that demeaned particular communities; if not, KTR warned, the people will decide the consequences at the ballot box.
KTR urged Jubilee Hills voters to judge records, not rhetoric. "We will show what we did and then ask for votes. If Congress has done anything substantive in two years, let them explain it in public. If they can't, the people will deliver their verdict on November 11," he added.
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