KCR Calls Congress the “Number One Villain” of Telangana at BRS Silver Jubilee

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former Chief Minister of Telangana, launched a scathing attack on the Congress party during a massive public meeting held on Sunday at Elkathurthy in Warangal district. The event marked the silver jubilee celebrations of the BRS party.

In his speech, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao strongly criticized the Congress party, stating, “Whether in the past or the present, at any time, the Congress party has always been the number one villain for Telangana.” He placed special emphasis on the role of the Congress in the history of the Telangana movement.

Referring to the pre-statehood period, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao alleged, “When Telangana was a part of Hyderabad State, it was forcibly merged with Andhra Pradesh against the will of the people by the Congress party, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.” He further accused the Congress government under Indira Gandhi of suppressing the 1969 Telangana agitation, stating, “During the peak of the separate Telangana movement in 1969, the Indira Gandhi government killed 400 Telangana youth as if they were mere birds.”

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao also criticized the stance of leaders from both the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) during the Telangana movement. “Back then, the leaders from Congress and TDP remained silent for the sake of their posts. They never opened their mouths or fought for Telangana. Until the pink flag was hoisted, they couldn’t even express Telangana’s identity,” he said. He claimed that only BRS members made personal sacrifices for Telangana’s cause, while Congress leaders allegedly compromised it for political gain.

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao also recalled that during the tenure of N. Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister, the word “Telangana” was banned in the legislative assembly. “They even issued a Speaker’s ruling to prohibit it. When MLA Pranay Bhaskar mentioned ‘Telangana’, it was treated as a criminal act,” he stated.

He further alleged that even after 2001, when the Telangana movement resurged, the Congress party continued to betray the cause. “Seeing our strength and momentum, they allied with us and promised Telangana. Then, they made us wait for 14 years, trying to cover up their betrayal. It was only when the opposition parties cornered them in Parliament that they finally relented. They announced statehood but then retreated. Telangana was granted only after large-scale protests like the Sakala Janula Samme, Sagara Haaram, and Vanta-Varpu, and due to their political compulsions,” Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao said.

Highlighting the progress achieved during the ten-year rule of the BRS, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao said, “The people gave us power not for enjoyment, but as a responsibility. Telangana, once considered backward and ridiculed, has seen development across all sectors. We increased per capita income from ₹90,000 to ₹3.5 lakh. We made the state number one in the country in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). We completed several long-pending projects.”

Speaking from the dais of the BRS silver jubilee celebrations, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao used the platform to fiercely criticize the Congress party and to elaborate on the achievements of his administration.