Hyderabad: Cautioning that getting deceived two or three times with the hollow promises of one political party will be a mistake, Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao on Friday called on the people to give the 'sword' to the BRS for fighting on their behalf.

The BRS working president addressed a roadshow at Vengalraonagar on Friday. He asserted that people would see “six guarantees” fulfilled only if the Congress party is defeated in this byelection.

“Give us the sword and we will fight the battle on your behalf. We will question the government by catching the collar in the Assembly,” Rama Rao observed. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, “instead of resorting to diversionary tactics”, must first present the achievements of his two-year rule and then seek the people’s verdict in the Jubilee Hills byelection, KTR said.

Referring to the train of arguments in the Chief Minister’s campaign speeches, KTR reasoned that Revanth Reddy has “already conceded defeat in the Jubilee Hills byelection”. Hence, the Chief Minister is claiming that this election is not a referendum on his administration. “If the Chief Minister truly believes in his governance, why is he refusing to make this election a referendum?” KTR asked, adding: “His (CM’s)own statements clearly show that he is afraid of the public verdict.”

The BRS leader appealed to voters to compare the two years of the Congress government’s ‘misrule and corruption’ with the 10 years of “development achieved under the BRS government, particularly in Hyderabad”. He claimed that the BRS government had transformed Hyderabad into a leading global city with major advancements in IT, healthcare, infrastructure, housing, and public services.

KTR accused the Congress government of using the ‘Hydraa’ (Hyderabad Disaster Management and Asset Protection Agency) demolition drives to target the poor, while sparing influential individuals involved in illegal constructions. Displaying visuals of constructions purported to be those of influential individuals on LED screens during the roadshow, KTR challenged Revanth Reddy to demolish those illegal constructions and farmhouses owned by his own ministers if he truly believes in law and justice. “Hydraa bulldozers should not stop at the homes of the poor. Let him (CM) prove his sincerity by acting against his own cabinet,” KTR said.

The BRS working president questioned why voters should support a government that has “betrayed every section of society over the past 24 months” despite giving “six guarantees”.