Hyderabad: Stating that things do not remain the same all the time and those difficulties may arise at times, the BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao said people should not be afraid because good days would return when the BRS comes back to power in the state. He said that during the 10 years of BRS rule, all the villages in the newly formed Telangana state had become self-sufficient and flourished as autonomous centres and rural economies.

He said the encouragement given to Dalits, tribals, weaker sections and women; the schemes implemented by the then BRS government for rural development; and the financial support provided under Palle Pragathi had strengthened the Telangana Panchayat Raj system. The administrative reforms he introduced as Chief Minister, he said, had become an example for the entire country.

The BRS chief was addressing the newly elected Sarpanches and ward members of his adopted villages --Eravelli and Narsampet --in the Gajwel constituency, who had come to seek his blessings. KCR felicitated the elected Sarpanches with shawls and distributed sweets to them. He recognised the villagers who met him, greeted them by name, and enquired about their well-being.

On the occasion, the villagers drew KCR’s attention to the current state of Telangana’s villages. They said the villages had flourished during the previous BRS regime but that under the present Congress government, the situation had deteriorated in all aspects.

They expressed their concerns and recalled the financial assistance provided by KCR as Chief Minister for agricultural development, including electricity and irrigation, the regular release of funds for rural development, and the schemes implemented for caste-based professions such as Golla Kuruma, Mudiraj Besta, Gowda, Padmasali, Chakali Mangali, Sabbanda, as well as Dalit, Bahujana and tribal women.

A villager present at the meeting said, “Sir, your rule was a golden age for our villages. What is happening now, sir? Only sorrow remains. People of all castes are suffering. I realised this only after you lost power. Sir, we understood your value when you were no longer the Chief Minister. Unless you return, the villages of Telangana will not regain their past glory.”

KCR said the elected representatives should work with their own strength and move forward with inspiration from the previous BRS government. “Now, the newly elected Sarpanches should prepare plans to develop their villages with strong ideas. Taking developed self-help villages like Gangadevipalli as an example, we should form committees with people’s participation, take up our own responsibilities, and contribute to the development of our villages.”