Telangana's wealth is in the hands of one family: Rahul Gandhi

Jagtial (Telangana), Oct 20: Stepping up his attack on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that one family is ruling Telangana and the entire wealth of the state is concentrated in its hands.

He termed the next month's Assembly election a fight between 'Dorala Telangana and Prajala Telangana' (feudals' Telangana and people's Telangana) and urged the people to bring Congress to power to realize the dream for which they fought for Telangana state.

The former Congress chief was addressing a public meeting in Jagtial as part of ‘Vijayabheri yatra’ in Telangana on the third day.

Reiterating that if voted to power Congress will conduct caste census in Telangana, the Congress MP said this would be the first step to realize the dream of people's Telangana.

He alleged that the state's wealth, be it land, sand and liquor is concentrated in the hands of one family. "You had dreamt of people's rule in Telangana but after achieving Telangana state you found a family ruling you," he said.

Rahul Gandhi reiterated his allegation that BJP, BRS and MIM are working together. "BRS backs BJP in Delhi, extends support to it in Lok Sabha and in Telangana, BJP and MIM support BRS," he said.

He said wherever the Congress fights BJP in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Assam, MIM fields its candidates to help BJP.

Slamming the BRS government for closing down sugar factories in the region, he promised that once voted to power Congress will re-open them.

He also promised that farmers will be paid Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 12,000 to 15,000 per quintal for turmeric.

The Congress leader also announced that whatever farmers grow in the state they get Rs 500 more than the MSP. He reiterated that his relationship with Telangana is not political but that of love and family.

It is a relationship of several decades from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, he added.

Gandhi said it was because of this special relationship that he brought his sister Priyanka Gandhi to Telangana with him for launching the election campaign.

The Congress leader announced that if voted to power Congress will conduct a caste census in Telangana so that OBCs know what is their population and what should be their share. "The caste census is like X-ray. The treatment will start after an X-ray. This will be the first step to fulfill your dream of people's Telangana," he said.

He also promised that if voted to power at the Centre, Congress will make public the statistics of the caste census conducted earlier and a new census will be done on the basis of caste.

Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister KCR don't want to conduct caste census. "OBCs work hard and they are the backbone of the country but Modi and KCR do not want OBCs to know what their population is," he said.