HYDERABAD

Working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K.T. Rama Rao has asked Minister for Revenue and Housing Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy to seek votes only after constructing 20 lakh Indiramma houses, as the latter has vowed the same in Nalgonda district earlier this week.

In a statement, Mr. Rama Rao asked the Minister whether he had the courage and commitment to stand by his words. He said making loud challenges and later escaping responsibility had become the trademark of present bunch of Congress leaders. The BRS leader demanded that the Congress government prove its sincerity in deeds. “Do not make hollow vows. If you have the capability, fulfil your promises and show results to people,” Mr. Rao told the Minister.

He claimed that the previous BRS government had built houses with dignity and self-respect for the poor and transformed the dream of home ownership into reality for lakhs of families. He stated that while Congress speaks about tiny “box houses”, the BRS government had constructed quality double-bedroom homes that became a model for the country.

The nearly one-lakh double-bedroom houses in Hyderabad are equivalent in quality and scale to seven “Indiramma houses” proposed by the Congress, he said and criticised the Congress government for demolishing houses in the name of governance.

“We built houses brick by brick, while you are running bulldozers over the homes of ordinary people. You are deriving pleasure by demolishing people’s homes every weekend, and yet you speak with arrogance,” he remarked. He demanded that the government release a white paper on the number of houses constructed in Hyderabad in the last two-and-a-half years and the number of houses demolished during the same period.

The BRS leader further alleged that the Congress leadership was indulging in corruption, land-grabbing, blackmail, misuse of the revenue system and coercive tactics against people as well as political rivals.