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Will the current elections see the revival of the Congress party?  After winning Telangana, the party’s high command hopes you will help check the BJP's Southern push—your comments.

 

South India will play a major role in the Parliamentary elections. The INDIA block is all set to send over 100 members to Parliament from the five South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The BJP will be curtailed to about 20 out of the 130 seats.

 

The Congress has successfully prevented the BJP from fulfilling its ambitious plans in Telangana. Seeing the Bharath Rashtriya Party (BRS) disintegrate, its entire vote bank is slowly shifting to the Congress in the state.

 

The BJP has given the “abki baar 400 paar” (this time over 400) slogan nationally, which means people have taken it seriously. What is your assessment of the political trends nationally?

 

This is just a political rhetoric. The BJP knows that there has been a decline in the polling percentage in the first two phases of polling. This low polling percentage is a clear indication of weakening public support for the NDA. This reflects public anger and shaken trust in the incumbent government. 

 

Sidelining other important issues like price rises and unemployment, this election has suddenly raised the reservation issue, forcing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Mohan Bhagwat to make a statement that the RSS was not against reservation—your comments.

 

The slogan to help BJP get 400 seats is aimed at achieving hidden objectives that only a brute majority can ensure. The Prime Minister and Home Minister are conspiring to remove the reservation in line with the ideology of the RSS, irrespective of their public stand.

 

Their policy is rooted in the concept of a nation without reservations. Their agenda includes contentious issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act and Uniform Civil Code, which are seen as steps towards removing reservations and is possible only if they have negligible opposition in Parliament. They will not succeed, as people can see through their game.

 

What is the Congress’s stand on the issue of reservation, especially about the OBCs? This has generated a lot of heat in these elections.

 

The NDA government has the OBC population as its target. The Supreme Court has said that any increase in the OBC reservation beyond 27 per cent can only be done after the OBC population is counted, but it should be limited to the reservation of 50 per cent. Meanwhile, the apex court has stopped counting the OBC population, creating a conflict.

 

What issues are you raising in the campaign and public rallies ahead of the May 13 polling in Telangana, and how are the people responding to them?

 

The first issue we want to highlight is the importance of keeping the nation united. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went on a padayatra across the country to spread the message of all-inclusiveness and preserve the country's unity.

 

The BJP has failed to deliver on its promises to the people—be it creating two crore jobs in a year, doubling farmers' incomes, or depositing Rs 15 lakh in the Jan Dhan bank accounts. Instead, the BJP implemented the three farm laws against farmers' interests, leading to protests. Rising inflation has made life difficult for all.

 

Congress in Telangana is facing Parliamentary polls just a few months after winning the assembly elections with a thumping victory. How are you convincing people to vote for your Party in the Lok Sabha polls?

 

People have seen we mean business. Our government is open to listening to the people twenty-four hours a day, and there is no restriction on anyone walking into my office or my home.

 

Besides, we have implemented five out of the six poll promises. People saw us playing a semi-final against the BRS that ruled Telangana for 10 years. They will now see the finals in the Lok Sabha polls, where the Congress will win all the seats from the BJP.  The BRS is already nowhere in the picture.

 

We are telling the people that the BJP-led NDA government did not fulfil its promises to Telangana in ten years, so a Congress-led government at the centre is the only hope for the state to get its share of central assistance. From a Congress versus BRS in the state assembly, it is now Congress versus BJP for the Lok Sabha polls, and the result will be the same.

 

Why have you completely ruled out the BRS from the Parliamentary elections in terms of winnability of seats, the party led the fight for the creation of the state and is still popular among the people.

 

People are aware that the BRS will soon be a defunct party. BRS President K Chandrashekar Rao, also known as KCR, has entered into a “secret understanding with the BJP” to save his daughter K. Kavitha, who is in jail in the Delhi Liquor Excise scam. Therefore, the BRS has fielded very weak candidates against the BJP on five seats to ensure Kavitha's bail. The unofficial BRS-BJP alliance is not going well with the people.

 

The Congress has faced backlash over controversial statements by senior leader Sam Pitroda on redistributing wealth and over a video of former PM Manmohan Singh suggesting distributing the nation's wealth to people experiencing poverty. The BJP has also alleged that Congress wants to end OBC reservations and give them to Muslims instead.

 

The BJP has mastered twisting facts. At every rally, we clarify to people that Congress does not plan any wealth redistribution based on the caste census. We have made it clear we only want a population count, not a count of wealth.

 

Our party has a legacy of nationalising banks and providing reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs. The PM is being misled by claims that Congress will confiscate personal assets like mangalsutras and second homes. There are laws protecting individual property - even a wife cannot take her husband's house. How could the government do that? Rahul Gandhi never spoke about taking away private wealth. The BJP is intentionally creating confusion among voters.

 

You say Rahul Gandhi's comments on redistributing wealth were misinterpreted. Can you elaborate?

 

Rahul was speaking about redistributing government wealth to the needy and deserving, not private wealth. Currently, the BJP is redistributing that public wealth only to corporations and his friends Adani, Ambani, and a few others. That's the difference between Rahul and the BJP.

 

Relations between the Centre and the state were strained under your predecessor, KCR's rule. How do you view Centre-state ties now amid this BJP-Congress conflict?

 

Party politics is different from governance. As a party leader, I use political language at party meetings. But as Chief Minister, I must take a different governance-oriented approach and speak that language.

 

What is the status of implementing the Congress's six guarantees in Telangana?

 

We are implementing all six. Under the Mahalakshmi scheme, women can travel for free on state buses, for which we have reimbursed Rs 1369 crore to TSRTC so far. We provide Rs 2500 monthly aid to single women and eligible beneficiaries. LPG cylinders are subsidised to Rs 500 for 40 lakh beneficiaries. There is free electricity for up to 200 units. The Rythu Bharosa farmer aid and Indiramma housing schemes are being implemented.

 

Your government presented a White Paper showing the state's dire financial situation. How will you fund these schemes?

 

KCR mismanaged spending with purposeless expenditures. I'm increasing revenues by regulating GST and VAT collections. GST went from Rs 400-500 cr to our target of Rs 2000 cr per month or Rs 24,000 cr annually. We are also regulating fuel supplies from low-VAT Karnataka. Increasing revenues will fund our schemes.