• Shabbir Ali leads a massive rally, addresses a public meeting in Domakonda
• Modi Govt not doing anything to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine: Shabbir
• People of Telangana want to dump TRS and KCR in the Bay of Bengal: Shabbir

Kamareddy, February 26, 2022: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir warned that the Congress party would launch a massive agitation if the TRS Government increases the power tariff in the State.

Addressing a massive public meeting in Domakonda on Saturday, Shabbir Ali said that the power consumers in all the categories were already burdened due to the collection of development charges ranging from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000. The former Energy Minister challenged TRS leaders to prove him wrong by clarifying whether or not the State Government was collecting an additional levy of Rs. 2,000 from the power consumers. He said he was ready for an open debate on the issue.

Shabbir Ali said that the people of Telangana were badly hit due to rising inflation, especially due to the ever-rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. He said that the fuel prices in Telangana were the highest in the country and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao refused to decrease the Value Added Tax (VAT) despite 24 other States, including Punjab, reducing it. He said that the prices of essential commodities were at an all-time high and even farmers were feeling the burden of an increase in input costs due to continuous increases in the prices of diesel. He said that the BJP Govt at the Centre and TRS Govt in Telangana were not taking any measures to control the inflation. Further, he said that the KCR Govt was planning to burden the people by increasing the power tariff.

He said that the KCR Govt had promised to waive off electricity bill arrears for Dalit families. However, he said even after completion of nearly three years in power in the second term, it did not waive off any arrears.

 

The Congress leader expressed serious concern over the safety of thousands of Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy with the election campaign and ignored various appeals made by the Indians living in Ukraine for early evacuation. He said many countries have safely evacuated their citizens before Russia attacked Ukraine. However, Modi Govt did nothing and now it is trying to cover up its failure by enacting dramas of exploring alternate routes for evacuation.

Shabbir Ali, who also held the portfolio of NRI Affairs from 2004-2009, alleged that the Telangana Government was completely clueless on the number of people hailing from Telangana stranded in Ukraine. He said that Minister K. Tarakarama Rao, who is apparently incharge of the NRI Affairs, was confined to giving replies to a few Tweets. He said that the previous Congress Govt had sent special aircraft to Gulf countries to bring back the Telugu people who were lodged in jails.

The Congress leader said that the TRS Govt was making false claims of development. He said all sections of the society were unhappy with the performance of the KCR Govt. He said that TRS Govt was making tall claims of increasing the pension amount. But the KCR Govt is not giving new pensions. He said lakhs of Beedi workers were being denied pension.

Shabbir Ali also condemned the TRS Govt for not honouring the promise of giving double bedroom houses to all eligible beneficiaries. He said that the previous Congress Govt provided shelter to lakhs of poor families under the Indiramma Housing scheme. However, he said that the KCR Govt created hype around 2BHK units, but it did not deliver any houses to the poor. He said that the Congress party if voted to power in the next elections would provide Rs. 6-8 lakh to those having land for construction of houses.

The Congress leader demanded that the TRS Govt immediately issue notifications to fill over 1.92 lakh vacancies in various departments. Further, he said that CM KCR should implement the electoral promise of giving Unemployment Allowance of Rs. 3,016 per month to nearly 40 lakh jobless youth in Telangana State.

Shabbir Ali alleged that both BJP Govt at the Centre and TRS Govt in Telangana were looting the common people in multiple ways. He said the poor were becoming poorer while the rich were getting richer under BJP-TRS regimes. For the same reason, he said India’s 25% of wealth is owned by just 100 people in the country. He said Modi-KCR Govts were shielding the corrupt and selling off public assets like LIC and other profit-making companies to a few businessmen.

He ridiculed the claims made by CM KCR that the people of Raichur want their region to merge with Telangana. He said the people of Telangana want to dump TRS and KCR in the Bay of Bengal for his anti-people policies.

Earlier in the day, Shabbir Ali reached the public meeting venue in a massive rally. Hundreds of TRS and BJP workers of the Kamareddy constituency joined the Congress party on the occasion. Shabbir Ali said that the pro-Congress wave was already in motion across Telangana State and the party was all set to return to power in the 2023 Assembly elections.