PM Modi's pre-poll foreign visit shows he conceded defeat: CM Reddy

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit abroad before the campaigning for the November 20 Maharashtra elections could end shows that he and the BJP have conceded defeat.

Addressing a press conference here, Reddy dared the saffron party to prove its claim that the Congress government in the southern state did not fulfil its poll guarantees.

He said if the Centre wants to send a minister or committee to verify the fact, he is ready to send a plane from his state.

"Today is the last day of campaigning for the Maharashtra polls, and just before the last day, PM Modi left the country and went abroad. This shows that the BJP and Modiji have conceded defeat as the party exited the poll ground," he claimed.

 

The Congress leader further claimed that he saw the BJP's advertisements in newspapers, which showed that they would even break the country to win the elections.

He questioned PM Modi and the BJP about what they had done in the last 11 years they have been in power.

He said in 2014, the BJP promised to double the income of farmers and create two crore jobs annually and claimed that by 2020, every poor person in the country would get a house.

"Forget doubling the income of farmers. They brought three black farm bills, forcing cultivators to agitate around Delhi, and more than 700 farmers were martyred. PM Modi had to withdraw the bills and apologise to the farmers," he said.

He said Modi is talking about guarantees the Congress gave in Telangana, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, claiming that the states did not fulfil these promises.

"As the chief Minister of Telangana, I would like to dare PM Modi and BJP leaders that if you have the courage, form a central committee with a Union minister and send it to Telangana. If you don't have money, I will send a plane to Delhi or Mumbai, but you come and verify whether the guarantees are fulfilled," Reddy said.

The chief minister claimed that he waived farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh with a total worth of Rs 18,000 crore for 23 lakh farmers in 25 days of forming a government.

"In the last 10 months, we gave 50,000 government jobs in Telangana. You send a committee. I will gather people who received appointment letters, and you can count. If there is even one person less than 50,000, I will tender my apology," he said.