TRS will not win more than 6 seats: Congress

Hyderabad: "When Narender Modi (Prime Minister) was about 15 years old, India's had fought and won its second war with Pakistan in 1965. The Indian Army had reached up to the outskirts of Lahore," pointed out Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, Gudur Narayana Reddy took on BJP for its narrative of '70 Saal Mein Kuch Nahi Huva (Nothing happened in the last 70 years)' which is often mentioned by Prime Minister Narender Modi in his speeches. "Modi is trying to create a wrong impression that the Congress party did nothing for the country in the last seven decades. His rhetoric gives a feeling as if India was born in 2014 and he was made the first Prime Minister," he said.

The Congress leader gave a chronological account of what India achieved since independence and where it stood by 2014 when Modi became the Prime Minister. "Even before Modi was born, India had won a war with Pakistan and also merged more than 500 Princely States into the Union Union. It also drafted and implemented the world's best Constitution. When Modi was just six months old, India hosted the first Asian Games in New Delhi from 4th to 11th March, 1951. In the same year, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru introduced India's first five-year plan. Before Modi turned one, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur or IIT-KGP), a public engineering institution, was established by the Government of India in 1951," he said.

Narayana Reddy said the first general elections of independent India were held when Modi was just two-year-old and even before he celebrated his 4th birthday, the Government of India created the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) on 3 January 1954. It was later renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on 22 January 1967. Several Public Sector companies like Bharat Petroleum, Bharat Electronics Limited, Hindustan Antibiotics, Hindustan Shipyard were already functional. The same Navratna companies are in deplorable condition now and the Modi Government wanted them to privatise to benefit a few rich individuals, he said.

"When Modi was just 11 years old, Indian Army liberated Goa from the Portuguese and it was made a Union Territory. A year later, French-ruled Pondicherry (now Puducherry) became part of India as a Union Territory. In 1961, Indian Institutes of Management were established in Calcutta and Ahmedabad. By this year, the country had five IITs at Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur and Delhi. These IIMs, IITs and dozens of universities have been creating thousands of top class professionals since then. These are the products of subsidised education in India," he said.

Narayan Reddy said by the time Modi turned 13 year, India had built Bhakra Dam on Sutlej River in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. It is the third largest reservoir in India and was described as "New Temple of Resurgent India'. The construction of Rihand Dam (Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar) at Pipri in Sonbhadra District in Uttar Pradesh, was also completed and it is India's largest artificial lake.

Modi was just 14-year-old when Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was formed on 1st October 1964. It was a consortium of Hindustan Aircraft Limited and IAF Aircraft Manufacturing Depot, Kanpur who were already manufacturing aircrafts and helicopters. It is the same HAL which was awarded the contract to manufacture Rafale. But Modi snatched the contract from HAL and gave it to his friend Anil Ambani, he said.

"In 1967, when Modi was about 17 year old, the foundation of the Green Revolution was laid and farmers harvested the first crop of high-yielding wheat. From the era of 'Ship to Mouth', India became self sufficient in the production of wheat. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, released a special stamp entitle 'Wheat Revolution' in July 1968, to officially recorded the impressive results of Green Revolution. When Modi was 19-year-old in 1969, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was founded. In the same year, the government nationalized 14 major Indian scheduled commercial banks to serve the needs of development. In the same year on October 28, Tarapur Atomic Power Station became operational generating initial power of 210 MW of electricity," Narayana Reddy said.

Narayana Reddy said when Modi turned 21 in 1971, India was fighting its third war with Pakistan. East Pakistan broke away from Pakistan and Bangladesh was born as an independent nation. "It was India's success in proving two-nation theory wrong. Unfortunately, Modi Government promoted hatred to encourage the beliefs that a nation could be formed on the basis of religion," he said.

"When he was only 24, India conducted peaceful nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974. Much before Modi entered the electoral politics, India had its super computer and application of Information Technology was completed in all spheres of lives in India. When he was 41 years old, India had witnessed the era of liberalisation under the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who later became the Prime Minister for two terms from 2004-2014," he said.

He also pointed out that much before Modi became the Prime Minister, India had already taken the initiatives for Chandrayan, Mangalyan, GSLV, Mono Rail, Nuclear Sub-Marine, Agni Missile, Chetak, MIG, Arjun Tank, Sukhoi, Dhanush, etc., Therefore, India was a powerful nation with a robust economy. The country was producing 3 lakh MW of energy. "Modi and his bhakts would not have raised the question '70 Saal Mein Kuch Nahi Huva' if they would have read history," he said.

Gudur Narayana Reddy challenged BJP and Modi to show a single major project initiated and completed in their regime. He said previous UPA Government did 11 Surgical Strikes without any hype. However, BJP is trying to take credit for the achievements of Indian Army.

The Congress leader also alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has supported the BJP in every aspect. He said TRS had the support of 16 MPs in the last Parliament, but did nothing for the State. He said TRS MPs could not even get National Project status for Kaleshwaram Project.

Similarly, he said except supporting the BJP at the Centre, KCR would do nothing if TRS gets all 17 seats. However, he said that the people of Telangana have realised that TRS and BJP are allies and therefore, he said TRS would not win more than 6 seats in the forthcoming elections. He said it was the fear of defeat of his daughter K. Kavitha from Nizamabad that KCR himself went to the residence of Mandava Venkateshwara Rao seeking help.

Gudur Narayana Reddy said the voting for TRS was like voting for BJP. Therefore, he said people should vote in favour of Congress candidates to ensure formation of a secular and strong government at the Centre.