Ruling BRS MLC in Telangana K Kavitha on Thursday hit out at the Congress, alleging the opposition party has petitioned the Election Commission seeking that disbursal of benefits under the BRS government's 'Rythu Bandhu' and 'Dalit Bandhu' schemes be stopped in view of upcoming assembly polls.
BRS strongly opposes Congress party's stance, she said.
"Congress party had complained to the Election Commission about the Rythu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu scheme. We strongly oppose their stand. By complaining to the Election Commission, they established that Congress is anti-farmer, Congress is anti-Dalit, Congress is anti-BC party," she told PTI.
If the ongoing welfare programmes in the state are to be really stopped, then all the ''gurukulams' (residential educational institutions) where lakhs of Dalit, BC, minority students study have to be closed and the 24x7 free power supply given to farmers has to be stopped, she said.
"These schemes, Dalit Bandhu and Rythu Bandhu were ongoing for the last few years. Why should they stop it just because there is an election? This only exposes how insecure Congress party is and how anti-farmer Congress party is," she said.
Meanwhile, the Congress exuded confidence that it would form the next government in Telangana with a two-thirds majority.
The opposition party demanded that the K Chandrashekar Rao government transfer all cash benefits under various schemes to people before the notification for the elections is issued on November 3.
Addressing a press conference with Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy at the AICC headquarters in Delhi, senior party leader and MP Uttam Kumar Reddy said, "We are demanding that all cash benefits be immediately transferred to farmers, Dalits, housing beneficiaries, Muslims, and other beneficiaries before the date of notification."
"The use of official places such as the CM residence and MLA camp offices built using taxpayers' money, should not be used for BRS' political activities. Officials favouring BRS should not be assigned key election duties," he said, adding all these issues have been flagged with the Election Commission.
Revanth Reddy said the BRS has started a "poisonous campaign" that Congress leaders sought stopping the disbursal of funds under welfare schemes.
The notification for the Telangana elections will be issued on November 3 and the polling will take place on November 30. The results will be announced on December 3.
