- 4 minutes ago
Speaking at an India Today event in Kochi, Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao addressed key national and state political issues. Speaking on scrutiny surrounding the Election Commission, he stated, "The EC seems to be broken," and urged the Supreme Court to initiate an independent judicial probe. On delimitation, he said the southern states must retain their 24 percent representation in Parliament before BRS considers supporting the measure. Rejecting any possibility of an alliance with the BJP, he emphasized that BRS remains ideologically opposed to both national parties. Discussing youth protests and movements led by Gen Z, he welcomed political accountability. He also ruled himself out as the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections, reiterating that party founder K. Chandrashekar Rao remains the face of BRS. Highlighting his party's track record, Rama Rao pointed to Telangana's growth in GSDP, per capita income, and IT jobs, defending its transition into a key economic engine.
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00:00Formation to transformation where Telangana is concerned.
00:03Ten years in governance, now watching two and a half years in the opposition.
00:07Katie Ramarao, welcome.
00:08Thank you for coming to Kochi and taking the time out, sir.
00:12But I'd like to begin with what now is a hot-button topic.
00:16Not very far off.
00:18Far off, but not very far off.
00:19In Delhi, there is an all-party meet which is taking place.
00:23Deliberating on what a united opposition, which you're not a part of, has to do
00:28at the back of what is a damning report in the Indian Express
00:32where the workings of the Election Commission is concerned.
00:38What is your party's stand where the CEC, the report that has come out,
00:45the allegations which now a majority of the opposition parties are making?
00:49The Congress yesterday has asked the CEC to step down.
00:53Not just that.
00:53They've raised accusations right to the top of Prime Minister
00:58and Home Minister's resignation as well.
01:01In fact, firstly, it's always a pleasure being in Kerala.
01:04Kochi is one of my favorite cities in the country.
01:06So thank you to India Today for actually hosting this event here.
01:11On the Election Commission issue, in fact, we've made our stand very, very clear.
01:16Election Commission of India Today faces some serious credibility issues,
01:20which, unlike ever post-independence, this is the first time we have,
01:24not the very first time, but over the last few years,
01:27Election Commission has been under tremendous, tremendous scrutiny.
01:31Without a question, I think what Indian Express has outed
01:34is something that the entire country today truly, truly believes to be a fact.
01:41The onus is truly and fully on Supreme Court of India,
01:46because Election Commission, at the end of the day, it's a constitutional body.
01:50The onus is on Supreme Court to take sumoto cognizance
01:53and order an independent judicial probe.
01:55Otherwise, no matter what the opposition says,
01:58no matter what which party says,
02:00the fact will remain that BJP will continue to support
02:03whatever Election Commission has done.
02:05Election Commission will continue to defend what they've done.
02:08I think an independent probe headed by no less a person than a Supreme Court judge
02:11will eventually get to the bottom of it.
02:14But yes, one thing is a fact.
02:15The EC needs to be fixed.
02:17The EC seems to be broken.
02:20The entire credibility of the world's largest democracy is in question.
02:23So I certainly, I mean, I don't see eye to eye with Mr. Rahul Gandhi on a lot of things.
02:27But on this issue, yes, I do believe that it does require a serious scrutiny.
02:32Is your party's stand on the side where, yes, that the Election Commission of India
02:37is crying out for reforms and reforms must happen?
02:40Or you, like the rest of the opposition,
02:42and I can name parties like TMC, Congress, even the Samajbadi Party,
02:46and the likes have asked and demanded that the Chief Election Commissioner step down?
02:51Well, you know, after such allegations,
02:53I think the moral responsibility is on the CEC to step down,
02:56I think voluntarily, without having to be sacked or, you know,
03:00be even, without even a demand coming from any party.
03:04I mean, such serious allegations of, you know, 14, 10 out of 14 times,
03:09you know, him vetoing the two other election commissioners.
03:11It's not a joke or not a normal thing.
03:14So if I was Mr. Ganesh Kumar, I would have stepped down already and sought a probe.
03:19But unfortunately, in our country at this point in time,
03:21the polarization across parties is so clear, that I don't think he's going to do it.
03:28So therefore, I think the onus, because it's an election, it's in a constitutional body,
03:33the onus is on Supreme Court to step in, take suomoto cognizance,
03:38and call for an independent probe.
03:39What this has also done is, Mr. Rao,
03:42it's put the focus on one very contentious electoral process
03:46that has been on in the country over the last year and a half, the SIR.
03:50What are the views of your party?
03:53And I'll give you an example.
03:54We had from your state, Mr. OVC, yesterday.
03:58And he says that the SIR needs to stop and immediately,
04:03that it needs to be discontinued.
04:05And this is a demand, again, opposition parties are making.
04:08I have a slightly different opinion.
04:09In fact, SIR is nothing new to this country.
04:12It has happened several times in the past, you know, 13 times.
04:15And this is the 14th time.
04:16The last time it happened was in 2002.
04:18We all know that.
04:19So a revision of the voter list is something that we ought to do.
04:23Because, you know, otherwise, the votes are the dead, the votes are the shifted.
04:27You know, it all becomes a problem.
04:28And eventually, in a democracy, when we're talking about first-past-the-post kind of system,
04:33each vote counts and each vote matters.
04:35But if somebody in Telangana has to complain about SIR, it's us.
04:39Because, you know, we won 39 out of 119 seats in 2023.
04:44And the largest number of vote deletions happened in our seats.
04:48Out of the 39, we won 27.7%.
04:51Not a small number.
04:5327.7% of the votes have been deleted.
04:55Yes, there is a lot of apprehensions, lots of doubts, lots of concerns.
05:02Can we bring about more transparency?
05:04In fact, we went all the way to election commission.
05:06We sat with the full commissionerate and we requested them.
05:10We said, you know, probably have a multi-stakeholder approach.
05:13Booth-level agents of each political party being a part of the process.
05:16Make it more transparent.
05:18They've heeded to some of our advice.
05:20They've actually initiated that.
05:21But have the BLOs been effective?
05:24Have things happened as they were envisaged?
05:26No.
05:27So I think a serious introspection on the whole process.
05:30But the good news from our perspective, from Telangana's perspective is,
05:34our elections are two years away.
05:36Fair point.
05:36But you also have the largest number of voters.
05:39And I'm sorry, I'm coming in.
05:41Gen Z voters, let's call them.
05:4318 to 29.
05:44I think 4 lakhs have registered.
05:47And that is a contention that has been raised by your party as well,
05:52giving the example, not your party, sorry, the Congress as well,
05:54giving the example of Telangana, where Form 6 is concerned,
05:57because these voters will only be added by the virtue of Form 6,
06:00that there needs to be a full introspection on that account.
06:04A lot of issues that need to be set right.
06:06In fact, like I said, the good news for us is two years from an election
06:10because we at least have the opportunity to go and knock on the doors of a judiciary.
06:15Unlike in Bihar or Bengal, when the SIR happened and, you know,
06:18it happened right around the election time.
06:20So for us, yes, there are a lot of challenges, a lot of concerns,
06:25but at least we have some judicial remedies to seek.
06:28That's what we are going to do.
06:29While this whole political conversation on property and public life,
06:32constitutional bodies, where the CEC is taking place, Mr. Rao,
06:35there is also another facet to it.
06:37Now, that's not political, but it's headed by a,
06:41you can call it a political pressure group, the Kokoro Janata Party,
06:44which is now understood to represent the mood of the Gen Z generation that we speak of.
06:51And in two days, they are carrying out a parallel movement in Mumbai
06:55where they are demanding exactly the same thing,
06:58which these opposition parties are demanding.
07:00How do you view that?
07:01Because at one end, there is, of course, political pressure.
07:05And on the other hand, there is a leveraging of the Gen Z momentum
07:10through a pressure group of the nature of CJP.
07:14See, youngsters rebelling against establishment is nothing new, Preeti.
07:19If you look back in history as well, you know, in Telangana,
07:23we've had Telangana agitation prior to that.
07:25We had independence, we had independence movement, we had quit India.
07:29You know, in Telangana, there was a very popular slogan,
07:30Jeena hai toh marna sikho, kadam kadam pe ladna sikho.
07:33I think that it goes across the country as well.
07:35It is born out of protest.
07:36Absolutely.
07:37Inkilab, Zindabad, and all these.
07:39You know, so protests by youngsters, call them Gen Z or call them youngsters,
07:44give them whatever name at different points of time,
07:47have happened throughout time,
07:49because they are the ones who actually reset, you know,
07:52a lot of things which, when they go hayward, when they go wayward.
07:55So, yes, it's a welcome change.
07:57In fact, if anything, Gen Z has shown the country that no matter who you are,
08:03no matter what your stature is as a political leader,
08:05you are vulnerable, you are accountable,
08:08which unfortunately was not the case for a long time in India so far.
08:11Today, you know, last year I was at an event in Bombay,
08:15and that's exactly when Nepal Gen Z protests had erupted.
08:18So the anchor, just, we were having a conversation just like this.
08:21The anchor had asked me, would you see this happening in India?
08:24I said yes.
08:25A lot of them, you know, sneered, jeered, and laughed at me, mocked me,
08:28saying how could this happen in India?
08:30When the confidence erodes in the system,
08:33when your leaders, your leadership in a democracy doesn't seem accountable,
08:38yes, things will happen.
08:41Neat was just the pretext, if you ask me.
08:43Neat was just the tip of the iceberg.
08:45I think what was seen on the streets of Delhi and across the country
08:48was the angst of the youngsters against the establishment,
08:51because they want equality of choice, freedom of choice,
08:55no religious bigotry, no divisive politics.
08:57There are so many things that are driving them.
08:59In fact, I, at one point in time, I have two Gen Z kids at home.
09:02My son was 21, my daughter was 17.
09:05So, I used to be concerned also that these guys don't seem to have a clue
09:09about what's happening in the society.
09:10But when they showed up like they did,
09:12I think that was such a breath of fresh air,
09:15and it took all of us by surprise,
09:17and I'm delighted that at least somebody in this country is setting,
09:21resetting, not setting, but resetting the tone and the tenor.
09:25You know, your take is interesting.
09:26I just want to, you know, for a moment,
09:29differentiate between what happened in Nepal and what happened in India,
09:32because it might have been in the beginning,
09:34Nepal might have started off with the Gen Z as a face,
09:37but ultimately we knew there were other elements involved.
09:39But if we talk about just our protest,
09:41which is what has happened back home in India,
09:44it's interesting because you don't look at it as politically motivated.
09:48You don't look at it what many from the government of the day
09:51at that point of time, and it all started called a foreign hand.
09:54You don't look at it from the prism of any of that.
09:57See, the funny part is,
09:59whenever the government is in a defensive mode,
10:01they try and push it onto somebody else's,
10:03either George Soros or somebody,
10:04you know, who's apparently, you know,
10:06always obsessed about India, apparently.
10:08Right?
10:09The fact is,
10:10youngsters of this country are currently peeved.
10:14That's obvious.
10:15I mean, if you don't want to see the writing on the wall,
10:18that's your problem.
10:19Is the government doing enough to assuage?
10:21Absolutely not.
10:22What happened to the two crore jobs that were promised?
10:24Two crore jobs per year that were promised.
10:26Are there answers being given?
10:28I mean,
10:29how long are you going to continue on this routine
10:32of trying to divide the country on religious lines?
10:34It has been long enough.
10:36I mean,
10:36I've seen Telangana chief minister yesterday talk about
10:39Ram versus Shiva.
10:41I don't understand.
10:43BJP wants to divide the country on religious lines,
10:45on Hindu-Muslim.
10:46Now,
10:46this congress fellow wants to divide our own gods,
10:49you know,
10:49Ram versus Shiva.
10:50What nonsense is this?
10:51And these are two national parties?
10:52Seriously?
10:53And this is your agenda?
10:54This is what you're going to talk about?
10:56My simple point,
10:57Preeti,
10:57is,
10:58where is the discussion from this government
11:00on jobs?
11:02Where is the discussion from this government
11:03on the promises they've made?
11:05By 2022,
11:07every household in India
11:08was supposed to have
11:09portable drinking water connection.
11:11We were supposed to be
11:12a five trillion economy by 2022.
11:14We were supposed to have
11:16bullet trains running
11:17across the country by 2022.
11:19Where is the discussion on that?
11:21We talk about
11:22Bandai Matram,
11:23we talk about UCC,
11:24we talk about Ram Mandir
11:25or Mandir Mechori.
11:26Where are the real issues
11:27of the people
11:28which are being discussed?
11:28Mr. Rao,
11:29this is the strongest
11:29I've ever heard you speak
11:31where this government is concerned,
11:32in the recent past at least.
11:33So can I?
11:34I'm inferring and allow me.
11:35No,
11:36we're speaking to each other
11:36for the first time.
11:37You and I are speaking,
11:38but I have heard you speak.
11:40Not that we've spoken,
11:41but it's what I've heard you speak.
11:43But having said that,
11:44so as
11:47an inquisitive political journalist,
11:48I infer from you then
11:50that there is no alliance
11:51with the BJP
11:52in the next two years
11:53that you're going to go
11:54into elections with.
11:552014 is when
11:56Telangana was formed.
11:57We fought alone.
11:582018 we fought alone.
11:592023 we fought alone.
12:01Our party is 26 years old.
12:03We've never had
12:04truck with BJP
12:05ever in the last 26 years.
12:06So this whole idea
12:08that we would align
12:09with BJP in itself
12:10is something that is absurd.
12:12Because we've never
12:13aligned with them ever.
12:14Ideologically,
12:14we are poles apart.
12:15There's no reason
12:16why we should...
12:17But allow me to tell you
12:18why, you know,
12:20talk of such
12:21with what you say
12:21of possible alliance
12:22or tacit support.
12:24For example,
12:26the parliament
12:27is still not prorogued.
12:28In all probability,
12:29we're going to see
12:29a delimitation exercise
12:31that would be conducted.
12:32Once again,
12:33it was defeated in...
12:34The bill was defeated
12:35in April.
12:36But your party
12:38has taken a clear stand.
12:40If certain...
12:41If what proportional representation
12:43is made in that bill,
12:45then you will vote
12:46with the government.
12:47Let me give you
12:47my perspective
12:48on delimitation,
12:49my party's perspective.
12:50Why is delimitation
12:51done in the first place?
12:52Simple.
12:54Constitution envisage
12:55that every 10 years
12:55there would be a census,
12:57a population census,
12:58and then based on that census,
12:59you would need to have
13:00proportionate increase
13:01or reduction
13:02in parliament seats
13:03and representation.
13:04We are a representative
13:05of democracy.
13:06So in 1951,
13:08there were census
13:08followed by seats
13:09which were 440.
13:1161,
13:12470 it increased to,
13:13and 71 it increased
13:14to 543
13:15which is the current number.
13:16Then they decided
13:17that for next 30 years
13:18we are not going
13:18to touch this
13:19because eventually
13:20population needs
13:21to be controlled.
13:21That was the mantra then.
13:23So family planning
13:23of association of India
13:24was formed,
13:26Nazbandi, etc, etc.
13:27We all know the story.
13:28Certain parts of India
13:29have adhered
13:30to this mantra.
13:32Hum do,
13:32humare do, etc, etc.
13:34That is Kerala,
13:35Tamil Nadu,
13:36Karnataka,
13:36Telangana,
13:37Andhra,
13:38Punjab,
13:38Haryana,
13:39Punjab,
13:39Odisha,
13:40a lot of states
13:40have adhered to that advice.
13:41So as a result,
13:42population has gone down here.
13:4424% of population
13:46has come down to 19%
13:48from the south,
13:49only speaking of the south.
13:50Now today,
13:51if a census has to happen,
13:53and based on that census,
13:54if you are going to
13:56create newer parliament segments,
13:57Home minister is saying no.
13:58No, no, no, I'll tell you that.
14:00What our concern is,
14:01why do you want to conduct
14:03delimitation in the first place?
14:04If you are saying
14:05it is for the sake of the people,
14:07then why don't you go ahead
14:08and increase the number of MLA seats?
14:09Because MPs are never
14:10the first point of contact anyway.
14:12If you want to start delimitation,
14:14increase the number of
14:15legislatures,
14:16I mean legislative seats
14:17in the state assemblies,
14:18and keep the parliament seats intact,
14:20543.
14:21Can you not implement
14:22women's reservation
14:23among the 543?
14:24That's what the Congress says.
14:25Yes, absolutely.
14:25Go ahead and do it.
14:26Now the second point is,
14:28if delimitation,
14:29because they have the numbers,
14:30because in a democracy...
14:31We don't know
14:32whether they have the numbers.
14:32They didn't have the numbers
14:33on the 17th April.
14:34No, no, all I'm saying is,
14:35if they have the numbers,
14:36and if the government
14:37is going to go ahead with it,
14:38then I would say,
14:40make sure it's proportionate.
14:4124% is the representation of south
14:43in the parliament today.
14:45Keep it intact,
14:46we'll support it.
14:47If you fiddle with it,
14:48if you stifle our voice,
14:50it is going...
14:51Let me simplify it,
14:52because this is an academic conversation
14:53about MLAs and all of that,
14:55which is interesting,
14:56but your political stand is,
14:57you make a proportional increase
14:59where the south state is concerned.
15:01If the 24% representation
15:03from the south of India
15:04remains intact in parliament...
15:05Which the Home Minister has promised.
15:06Well, I don't believe in...
15:07You're saying it's going to be
15:08part of the new bill.
15:08I don't believe in the promise
15:09because of one simple reason.
15:11We don't believe in BJP's promises
15:13because in 2014,
15:14when the new state of Telangana was formed,
15:16a state reorganization act was passed,
15:19a bill was passed,
15:20enacted by the parliament.
15:21None of the promises
15:22have been implemented,
15:23till date,
15:24including delimitation
15:25of seats in Andhra
15:26and Telangana Assembly.
15:27So what is the guarantee
15:29that, you know,
15:30even if it is put in the bill,
15:32they have to honor it,
15:34they have to deliver it.
15:35I'm now confused.
15:36Are you going to support the bill
15:37if there's proportional representation?
15:39Yes, we will.
15:40Yes, we will.
15:40Yes, we will.
15:41But, again,
15:43will they implement it?
15:44I think it will only suit
15:45their political needs
15:46because they have done
15:47delimitation in Assam
15:48when it suited them.
15:49Yes.
15:49They have done delimitation
15:50in JNK
15:51when it suited them,
15:52but they have left Andhra
15:53and Telangana out
15:54because it didn't suit them.
15:55BJP has no presence here.
15:56So my point is,
15:58if they are going to go...
15:59But some would argue
15:59BJP is seeing green shoots
16:01in Telangana
16:02if there is anywhere else
16:03other than Karnataka.
16:04It's Telangana.
16:04Well, well, well, well,
16:05let's see that.
16:06We'll deal with that.
16:07We'll cross that bridge
16:08when we get to it.
16:09But all I'm saying is,
16:11I think BJP is on a back foot
16:13now across the country
16:14and they are looking
16:15for a Hail Mary kind of solution
16:17and I think one of the things
16:18they are looking at
16:18is delimitation.
16:19Another thing they are looking at
16:20is UCC.
16:21All right.
16:21Okay, so where the delimitation
16:22is concerned,
16:23I infer you will support it
16:24if there's proportional representation.
16:26Yes.
16:27All right.
16:28Let me move on
16:28because you've clearly
16:30taken a stand
16:30politically like you said
16:32that you're ideologically
16:32opposite to where the BJP stands.
16:35Strangely, you're also
16:35ideologically opposite
16:36to where the Congress stands.
16:37Nothing strange about it.
16:38India is not a bipolar country.
16:39I don't have a bipolar problem.
16:41Therefore, all the talk
16:42that there is right now,
16:43Mr. Rao,
16:44that there could be
16:44the possibility
16:46of the formation
16:47of a front coming in
16:49from the south
16:50which,
16:51now I'll tell you
16:51it's come at the back of what?
16:52That there's this massive
16:53political buzz
16:54that DMK is in touch
16:55with the BRS
16:56and you're trying to create
16:57this third front sort of,
16:59or a second front in the south,
17:01thought of an equation
17:02which is anti-BJP
17:04but also anti-the Congress.
17:05How much truth is there in it?
17:07Four years ago,
17:08our leader KCR
17:08went to Stalin Sir.
17:10He went to Mamta Didi.
17:12He went to Niteesh Ji.
17:13He went to Mr. Naveen Patnaik
17:15basically proposing the same thing.
17:17He said,
17:17you know,
17:18why are we,
17:18in fact,
17:19we can all be non-aligned
17:21either to BJP or Congress.
17:22We can form an independent,
17:23you know,
17:24pressure group
17:25and create enough pressure
17:26on the two national parties,
17:28two large national parties.
17:28Mr. Rao,
17:29out of that,
17:30Mamta Banerji
17:30has picked a side.
17:31She's sitting right next
17:32to Sonia Gandhi today.
17:33Niteesh Kumar,
17:34you and I both know,
17:35has already picked a side.
17:36That leaves the DMK and you.
17:38Priti,
17:39politics,
17:40you know,
17:40is a dynamic field.
17:42Things keep evolving,
17:43things keep changing.
17:44So,
17:45we have two years
17:46to go to 2029.
17:47Neither am I,
17:48Asut Sayer,
17:49I don't suppose
17:50you are one either.
17:51So,
17:51let's wait.
17:52I think let's wait
17:52for the pot to boil.
17:53Come to her,
17:54come to her.
17:54So, the pot is boiling.
17:55That's all I want to know.
17:57It is always boiling.
17:58All right.
17:58So,
17:59all the talk about the DMK,
18:01Mr. Stalin being in touch
18:02with your father
18:03is not just
18:04shooting the breeze.
18:06No, no.
18:06They have been friends.
18:07There are a lot of friends
18:07across the political spectrum.
18:09So,
18:09who knows
18:10what will happen in 2029.
18:12That's a long way.
18:13No,
18:13not so long,
18:14actually.
18:14But,
18:15it's not so long,
18:16but I have not too much time.
18:17I want to come back
18:18to what we started off with.
18:20I'll ask you one question.
18:21From your political party,
18:22you're the working president now.
18:26Chief ministerial face?
18:27Absolutely not.
18:29I'll tell you why.
18:30Because,
18:31one,
18:32today,
18:32in Telangana,
18:33people are,
18:34you know,
18:34you've heard the
18:35triple R mantra.
18:37I don't know if you have.
18:38Not the movie.
18:39Not the movie,
18:40but the triple R mantra is
18:42recall,
18:43regret,
18:44and revolt.
18:44Three years ago,
18:45the Congress party
18:46made
18:48heavy promises.
18:49I mean,
18:49like,
18:50fake promises
18:50of the next level.
18:52They promise,
18:53they give
18:54ATM looking,
18:55cards which look like
18:56ATM cards,
18:57you know,
18:57credit cards.
18:58And promise to the people
18:59of Telangana,
19:00almost,
19:01they made 420 promises.
19:02Starting from,
19:03ranging from gold
19:04to scooties
19:06to 2,500 per month.
19:08Altogether,
19:09420 promises.
19:10We lost by a whisker.
19:12We lost by about
19:131.8%.
19:14Out of the total
19:15polled vote,
19:15we lost by 4 lakh votes.
19:17Now,
19:17that's a very
19:17marginal defeat,
19:19if you ask me.
19:20So,
19:20people are now recalling.
19:21You held on
19:22to where the urban
19:23pockets,
19:23Hyderabad,
19:24you were concerned.
19:26You were wiped out
19:26in the rural area.
19:27Well,
19:28yes,
19:28parts of rural area.
19:29But the fact is,
19:31today people are recalling
19:32the previous government
19:33and especially
19:34previous chief minister,
19:35that is KCR Garu.
19:36Now,
19:36they're regretting
19:37voting for Congress
19:38and there will be
19:38a revolt soon
19:39on the streets
19:39of Telangana.
19:40And I assure you,
19:42two years later,
19:42you'll see KCR Garu
19:43back in the seat
19:44and hopefully
19:44sitting here
19:45and talking to you.
19:46All right.
19:46As chief ministerial candidate
19:49would be
19:49Mr. KCR and not
19:50Absolutely.
19:51Mr. KTR.
19:52No,
19:52no,
19:52it's absolutely
19:53our leader,
19:54the former chief minister,
19:55Mr. KTR.
19:56He's the face of it.
19:57Is there a possibility
19:57of a split
19:58within your party?
20:00Like I said,
20:01but I don't suppose
20:02it's happening.
20:03You don't see that happening.
20:04One question
20:04before I move
20:05to Telangana
20:06and which is something
20:06that you've said,
20:07Mr. Rao.
20:08And that question
20:09stems from the fact
20:10where you say
20:11or possible regret
20:12of changing
20:13your party's name
20:14from TRS
20:15to BRS.
20:17What's your name,
20:18Priti?
20:18If I change my name
20:19and I'll call Shah Rukh Khan,
20:20I'll call Shah Rukh
20:21and I'll call Shah Rukh.
20:21What?
20:22The point is that
20:23if your DNA
20:25hasn't changed,
20:27if your party leadership
20:28hasn't changed,
20:29your ideology
20:29has not changed,
20:31your commitment
20:31to the people
20:32has not changed,
20:33your conviction
20:33to ideals
20:34has not changed,
20:34then nothing changes.
20:36See,
20:36we had aspirations
20:37to go national.
20:38Nothing wrong.
20:39See,
20:39when Telugu cinema
20:40can go pan-India,
20:41why not a Telugu party
20:42going pan-India?
20:43That's what we thought.
20:44With BRS?
20:45With BRS was the idea,
20:46but unfortunately...
20:47In Bharat, not Telangana
20:48in the first...
20:49Unfortunately,
20:49we fell flat
20:50right at home,
20:51so we have to now reset.
20:53So is the reset
20:54going back to TRS?
20:56We chose that name
21:00with an intent
21:01of, you know,
21:02showcasing our good work
21:03that we've done
21:03in Telangana
21:04in other parts of India
21:06as well
21:06and probably
21:07gain a foothold.
21:09See,
21:09life is all about
21:10dreaming the impossible.
21:11See,
21:11when we started
21:12our journey
21:13dreaming of statehood
21:14for Telangana,
21:14it was called
21:15a pipe dream.
21:16Eventually,
21:16it happened in 14 years
21:17because of TRS.
21:19Now,
21:19today,
21:19we are dreaming bigger.
21:20Nothing wrong.
21:21Life is all about
21:22dreaming the impossible
21:23and making it happen.
21:24And let me tell you,
21:25politics is the art
21:26of possibility.
21:27And so,
21:28anything is possible
21:28in our country.
21:29If a party can grow
21:30from two members
21:31in parliament
21:32to 303,
21:33anything is possible
21:34in India,
21:35and that's the beauty
21:35of our country.
21:36The first possibility
21:37is where you shift
21:38focus from Bharat
21:39back to Telangana.
21:40You have an election
21:41in two and a half years.
21:42I just want to now
21:43come back to Telangana
21:44because that's what
21:44we wanted to speak about.
21:46And you've been in
21:47governance for the,
21:47you were in governance
21:48for 10 years
21:49and for the last
21:49two and a half years,
21:50you've seen...
21:52Three years of the
21:58Congress in power.
21:59from formation,
22:01which you were a part of,
22:02to transformation,
22:04which partly you were
22:04a part of.
22:06And that transformation
22:07has been carried out
22:08by now Mr. Revant Reddy.
22:10How do you see that journey?
22:12Well, I think people
22:13of Telangana have to answer
22:14because, you know,
22:15end of the day,
22:15when I say something
22:16about my political opponent,
22:17it's not going to be
22:18very charitable.
22:19And you won't like it
22:20because I think
22:21that that's just
22:22the nature of our jobs.
22:24You know,
22:24I will have to only tell you
22:26the bad things
22:27that he's done
22:27and I won't be talking
22:28about anything good
22:30because that's how it is.
22:31So all I would say is
22:32let the people
22:33of Telangana decide
22:34because they are the ones
22:35who are facing the brunt
22:36of, you know,
22:37this misgovernance
22:38of Congress.
22:39I leave it at that
22:40because I don't want
22:40to be uncharitable
22:41to the man.
22:41He's new to the job still.
22:43He's learning.
22:44His number of trips
22:45to Delhi are about 80 now.
22:47Every 10 days
22:48he's in Delhi.
22:49So I'm guessing
22:50it all depends on Delhi
22:51and not Hyderabad.
22:52He's obviously subservient
22:54to Delhi
22:55and not to the people
22:55of Telangana.
22:56All right.
22:57So yeah,
22:57rather uncharitable there
22:59because let's shift focus.
23:01Let's speak of
23:02what you delivered
23:03and you,
23:05the whole dream
23:06because, you know,
23:07you've been the face
23:07of tech,
23:08you've been the face
23:09of industry,
23:10at least in your governance
23:12years in Telangana.
23:14And you did make
23:14an attempt
23:15to draw out
23:17of Hyderabad
23:17and go to tier two cities
23:19where tech
23:19and industry is concerned.
23:21Do you think
23:21it's possible
23:22because it didn't quite
23:23work out at that time?
23:24No, it is very much possible.
23:26I'll give you six examples
23:27of how well
23:28we've done as a state.
23:29I call my state
23:30the most successful
23:31startup state
23:32of independent India
23:33in the last 80 years
23:34and there's a reason
23:34why I say that.
23:35One,
23:36when we started
23:37our journey in 2014,
23:40our GSDP,
23:40the gross state
23:41domestic product,
23:42was only 4.5 lakh crores.
23:43When we left office
23:44in 2023,
23:46it rose to about
23:4716 lakh crores,
23:48highest for any state
23:50in the country
23:50in a span of a decade.
23:51Two,
23:52our per capita income
23:53when we started
23:54our journey in 2014
23:55was around 1 lakh rupees.
23:56When we left office,
23:57it is the highest
23:58in the country
23:59for any state,
24:003 lakh 87,000 rupees.
24:02Number three,
24:03our IT exports
24:04and IT jobs
24:05have grown manyfold.
24:06In fact,
24:06IT jobs were about
24:083 lakh 23,000.
24:09It grew to almost
24:10a million,
24:1110 lakh jobs.
24:11IT exports were about
24:1357,000 crores.
24:15It grew almost to again
24:152 lakh 41,000 crores.
24:17I'm reeling out numbers,
24:18but I'll tell you
24:19one simple thing.
24:21If somebody was traveling
24:22prior to the formation
24:23of Telangana,
24:24from Andhra to Telangana,
24:25you would see that
24:26the Telangana fields
24:27were all barren,
24:28dry, parched.
24:29But after KCR
24:31and after Kaleshwaram
24:32and after Mission Kakatiya,
24:34today if you travel
24:35the length and breadth
24:36of Telangana,
24:37you would see that
24:38we have become
24:39the number one
24:40paddy producer
24:40in the entire
24:41country surpassing
24:42Punjab and Haryana.
24:43So we've not only
24:44ushered in
24:45a green revolution,
24:46we've also been able
24:48to resurrect
24:49the private sector.
24:50We have been able
24:51to create jobs.
24:52We've been able
24:52to create an economy
24:53that's tough to beat.
24:54We contribute
24:55to 5.1% of India's GDP
24:57and we are only
24:582.5% of India's population.
25:00So we're literally
25:01a state that is
25:02punching double its weight
25:03and we are proud
25:04to be contributing
25:05to the nation building.
25:06Now did our tier 2 plan work?
25:08Yes, to a large extent.
25:09In fact,
25:10if you go beyond
25:11Hyderabad,
25:12you would see that
25:13most of the smaller towns,
25:14district headquarters
25:15in Telangana
25:16are very, very well developed.
25:17In fact,
25:18I draw a lot of inspiration
25:19from Kerala.
25:20I came here
25:20to learn about
25:21Kerala's rural development model.
25:23Kerala's rural development model.