Hyderabad

Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Tuesday made a strong pitch for re-election of his son K T Rama Rao from Siricilla and nephew T Harish Rao from Siddipet who, he said, had changed the fortunes of the people of the state in the last nine and a half years.

Addressing an election rally at Siricilla, the chief minister said his son had brought a new lease of life for the weavers of Siricilla by introducing the concept of weaving Bathukamma sarees.

“It was KTR’s initiative to provide enough work to the handloom weavers of making sarees to be distributed among the poor women during the Bathukamma festivities coinciding with Dasara Navratri celebrations. Similarly, they weave new clothes for the minorities during Ramzan and Christmas,” KCR said.

He said handloom workers of Siricilla, who were struggling to make both ends meet in the past, had now got enough work all through the year. “Every year, the government spends ₹300 crore on Bathukamma sarees, thereby providing employment to weavers. It was your MLA KTR who proposed the scheme and the cabinet had approved it in 2018,” he recalled.

The chief minister regretted that some mischievous elements take sarees and burn them alleging that they were of poor quality. “If they are of poor quality, who asked you to wear them? Those sarees are being manufactured not just to wear but also to wipe off the tears of weavers,” he said.

KCR hoped that Sircilla would turn into another Sholapur of Maharashtra which is known for its textile industry.

He also lavished praise on his son for the speedy completion of Manair dam. In the past, there was no water in the dam. “Now, it is in full flow. I am happy that the farmers are reaping rich benefits now and the credit goes to KTR,” he said.

At Siddipet, the chief minister lavished praises on his nephew and local MLA T Harish Rao and asked the people to re-elect the “six-feet bullet” one more time with the highest majority.

Describing Siddipet as his “Janma Bhoomi,” KCR recalled that he had been elected from the constituency five times between 1985 and 2004 and the constituency had groomed him, taught him and made him the chief minister. Because of the blessings of the people of Siddipet, Telangana state had become a reality, he said.

He said Harish Rao, who had taken over as Siddipet MLA from him, had developed the constituency on all fronts. “Even when I was MLA, I could not do this much for the region,” KCR said, adding that the entire Siddipet district had turned fertile due to construction of several reservoirs under Kaleshwaram.