Congress won't join any Opposition bloc having BRS: Rahul Gandhi

Khammam (Telangana): Launching a scathing attack on Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his remote control was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and described the state's ruling party as "BJP's B-Team" and its new nomenclature, BRS, as 'BJP Rishtedar Samithi'.

Gandhi alleged that the corruption charges against Rao and his party's leaders have made them subservient to the BJP, and asserted that he told all other opposition leaders that the Congress would not join any bloc where the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) was involved.

Addressing a public meeting here, he sounded the poll bugle for the Congress for the upcoming assembly polls in the state and promised Rs 4,000 per month as pension for senior citizens and widows, and land for tribals.

"This is another step to help the poor and our tribal brothers will be given back their land," the former Congress chief said.

He said there are many people who have left the Congress but the party's doors are always open for those who believe in the Congress' ideology. Gandhi also cited Delhi's alleged 'liquor scam' to accuse Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, of being under the "control" of Prime Minister Modi.

Some Telangana leaders have also allegedly come under the scanner in the Delhi liquor scam case, besides leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in the national capital.

"Telangana and its youth should understand one thing that KCR is under the control of Prime Minister Modi because of his corruption activities. The corruption he did in the liquor scam, is known to all agencies," Gandhi said.

"That's why I said that TRS is BJP's B-Team and they have accepted that by changing their name to BRS, which means BJP Rishtedar Samithi," he added. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is now known as the BRS.

The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Arun Ramchandra Pillai, an alleged frontman for the liquor cartel 'South Group', in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy case. He is said to be a close aide of BRS MLC and Chief Minister Rao's daughter K Kavitha. Kavitha has also been questioned in the case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2020-21.

Congress leader Gandhi alleged that the corruption charges against Rao and his party's leaders have made them subservient to the BJP, and that is why the prime minister has hold over him.

"The corruption done in the liquor scam is all known to the agencies. That is why I say TRS is BJP's B-team and that is why it has now changed its name to 'BJP Rishtedar Samithi, and we will defeat them here (Telangana)," he asserted.

Gandhi said when the Congress raised the farmers' bill issue in Parliament, the TRS supported the BJP. "Whatever Modi wants, Rao does for him. Because Modi has got remote control of KCR," he said.

Referring to the recent Karnataka assembly elections, Gandhi said, "A few months ago, we fought against a corrupt and anti-poor government in Karnataka and we defeated it." "We defeated the BJP in Karnataka where they were supported by their billionaire friends and something similar is going to happen in Telangana. On one side, there is the chief minister, his family and his 10-15 billionaire friends, and the other side has all the poor, dalits, tribals, minorities, small shopkeepers, farmers and small workers, who will all together repeat what has happened in Karnataka," he said.

Something similar is going to happen in the state and "like we defeated the BJP in Karnataka, we will defeat BJP's B-team in Telangana", Gandhi said.

On the recent attempts to unite the opposition against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said, "We told other opposition leaders if TRS attends the meeting, Congress will not attend it, Congress can't share stage with TRS." "We told other opposition parties that the Congress will not join any bloc where the BRS is involved. We can't share stage with the BRS," he said.

Over a dozen opposition parties recently met in Patna, Bihar, to put up a united front against the BJP and will be meeting again in Bengaluru soon. The BRS and a few other non-BJP parties are not part of this grouping.

"Chief Minister KCR thinks he is a king and Telangana is his kingdom. The land that was given by Indira amma (former prime minister Indira Gandhi) to the poor, dalits, tribals is being taken away by the TRS," Gandhi said.

"I want to tell you that this land doesn't belong to the chief minister, but belongs to you and it is your right. The Congress will hand over this land to you as it belongs to you," he said drawing a thunderous applause from the massive crowd at the rally.

Noting that Telangana was a dream of the poor, farmers, labourers and marginalised, he said that dream stands shattered in the last nine years of rule of the TRS.

Attacking the BJP, Gandhi said earlier it was said that there was a three-way fight between the TRS , the Congress and the BJP in Telangana. "But the BJP does not exist at all in Telangana. Their all four tyres have got punctured. Now, it is a fight between Congress and the B-Team of BJP," he said.

Gandhi also described Congress workers as 'babbar sher' (lions) and "backbone" of the party. "With your support, we can defeat the BRS like we did in Karnataka," he told party workers.

"We got a huge support from here (Telangana) during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and I want to thank you all for that," he said.

"During the yatra, we talked about uniting the country. On one hand, we follow an ideology to unite the country and there is another side that is trying to break the country," the Congress leader said.

"The entire country supported the yatra and said they wouldn't allow hatred in this country. Khammam has always supported the Congress as it believes in our ideology. I welcome the leaders who have decided to join the Congress today. But most importantly, I want to thank the workers of the party, who are like our lions (babbar sher)," he said.

The BRS "attacked you all but none of you were scared", Gandhi told the party workers.

"I also want to tell one thing, there are many people who have left the Congress party. Our doors are always open for everyone. Whoever believes in the Congress ideology, our doors are always open for them. But whoever believes in the ideologies of the BJP and the TRS, we do not have anything to do with those people," he said as a number of leaders, including from the BRS, joined his party.

Gandhi, however, did not say anything about the developments in Maharashtra where a big chunk of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Sunday switched sides, a development being seen as a major jolt to the opposition bloc.

The public meeting 'Telangana Jan Garjana Sabha' was attended by AICC's Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre, state party president Revanth Reddy, Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka, party leaders Jeevan Reddy, Madhu Goud Yakshi, Renuka Chaudhary and N Uttam Kumar Reddy, among others.