Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stated that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is not an opponent but there are similarities in the visions of Congress and Telegu Desam Party (TDP).
Adding to it, Rahul said that both Congress and TDP are fighting for the voice of people in Telangana, news agency ANI reported.
Rahul on Wednesday met TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in Telangana's Khammam while addressing a rally ahead of assembly elections in the state.
Terming prime minister Narendra Modi as a 'threat', Rahul added that both Congress and TDP are working together to get the nation rid of the 'threat'.
Sharing dais with Naidu for the first time after forging a 4-party alliance, Gandhi told an election rally in Telangana's Khammam that all promises made at the time of the bifurcation of AP would be fulfilled after a coalition of anti-BJP parties comes to power at the Centre.
The Congress president described the Khammam rally, also attended by its other alliance partners for the Telangana elections-- CPI and the Telangana Jana Samiti - as "historic" in state and national politics.
"First we will fight against Narendra Modis 'B team' (the TRS) and after that we will beat the 'A team' (the BJP- led NDA)," he asserted.
"The name of TRS is not Telangana Rashtra Samiti, its Telangana Rastriya Sangh Parivar. TRS is the B team of Sangh Parivar and the BJP. Don't foget this," he told an election rally at Kosigi in Mahabubnagar district, accusing caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's TRS of being in cahoots with the saffron party.
"Modi would not have indulged in anti-dalit, anti- adivasi and anti-minority activities had the Telangana chief minister not supported him. When we were fighting Modi on note ban, Land Acquisition Bill and saving farmers lands, TRS was supporting Modi, RSS and Sangh Parivar in Parliament," he said.
Gandhi said whether it was the TRS or Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, their aim was to see to it that the Congress was not able to defeat the BJP at the national level, Rahul said.
"Both TRS and AIMIM want Narendra Modi to win elections again," he claimed.
TDP chief Naidu said it was a "historic necessity" for all anti-BJP parties to align and fight against the NDA government, which, he alleged, was destroying institutions like the RBI, Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.
He said he will convene a meeting of all non-NDA parties on December 10 to further explore the possibility of forging a broad-based front against the BJP and its allies.
Naidu asked people not to vote for the TRS or AIMIM as it would ultimately benefit the BJP.
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister rubbished TRS's allegation that he was an obstacle in Telangana's growth when he helmed the undivided state of AP.
Naidu, who also held a road show in Hyderabad with Gandhi, asked people to be careful about "manipulation" of the EVMs during the polling.
Addressing the rally in Khammam earlier, Gandhi said if the TRS stands for the welfare of the people of Telangana, it should not support BJP.
Referring to Modi's remark at a public meeting in Nizamabad on November 27 that the Congress and TRS are "two sides of a coin", Gandhi wondered why then Rao and his party never criticised the Rafale deal and supported issues raised by the Congress.
"Modi promised two crore jobs to youth. KCR (Rao) promised one lakh jobs. I want to ask you how many jobs both gave," he said.
The Congress leader exuded confidence that his party will defeat the TRS in Telangana and BJP in the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh polls.
The Congress leader alleged while every citizen of Telangana has a debt burden of Rs 60,000, the income of K T Rama Rao, son of TRS chief and a minister in the caretaker government, grew by 400 per cent in the last four years.
Rao promoted "family rule", Gandhi said, claiming the TRS leader "destroyed the dreams" of Telangana.
"When Telangana was formed, the state had Rs 17,000 crore surplus. Today, it has a Rs two lakh crore debt. Every family bears a Rs two lakh debt and every person carries a debt burden of Rs 60,000 on his head. But KCR's son's income grew by 400 per cent," he said.
Listing out his party's poll promises, Gandhi said if voted to power the alliance government will waive farm loans upto Rs two lakh in one stroke unlike the TRS dispensation which did it in four instalments.
He also said a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 will be provided to every unemployed youth and Rs 1 lakh grant to each self-help group.
"The TRS government failed to put pressure on Modi to ensure that promises made during the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh were fulfilled. After coming into power, we will fulfil all those promises, whether it is setting up of Bayyaram steel factory, rail coach factory, or a tribal university for Telangana, or special category status for AP," he told the rally in Khammam.
Gandhi alleged that by redesigning and renaming Kaleshwaram irrigation project, Rao saddled the people of Telangana with a burden of Rs 40,000 crore.
The originally-designed Pranathita-Chevella lift irrigation project was to cost about Rs 38,500 crore. After it was redesigned, re-engineered, and renamed as Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, the estimated cost went up to Rs 80,500 crore.
Meanwhile, the BJP slammed the electoral alliance between the Congress and TDP after decades of rivalry.
"NTR fought Indira Gandhi to save Telugu pride. Chandrababu Naidu has surrendered it to Rahul Gandhi to save tainted colleagues CM Ramesh and Y S Chowdary facing IT and ED fraud cases," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao tweeted.
"This selfish United Looters Alliance (ULA) will be rejected by the people," he wrote on the microblogging website.
