'People of Telangana have faith in Congress'

The Congress was responsible for the creation of Telangana but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi's (BRS) "misrule" and corruption shattered the Telangana dream, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

Terming "welfare a permanent template" of his party, and accusing the BRS, BJP, and AIMIM of having forged some sort of deal, Kharge asserted to HT in an interview the Congress would wrest the state from the BRS. Edited excerpts:

Your party is claiming that it was Sonia Gandhi who gave Telangana state to its people but the BRS has taken the credit and won two terms on this plank. After 10 years, what makes you confident that people will believe in your claims?

On December 9, 2009, the Congress party stated that it was committed to the formation of Telangana and the process of bifurcation started. Sonia Gandhi made this possible.

However, our dreams and plans of a prosperous and progressive Telangana were shattered by the misrule of BRS's rampant corruption. In the last 10 years, KCR's family wealth has increased by 400%; on the other hand, total debt of the state too has increased by over 400% and is presently over 25.5 lakh crore. People here want change, and the Congress Party can alone bring that change.

The BRS understands the growing discontent, and the faith people have in the Congress. The prospect of losing is forcing them to attack us.

The Congress has been making a set of promises in all states. Is this going to be a permanent template? Will we see a set of promises or guarantees in the Lok Sabha and upcoming polls too?

Welfare is a permanent template of the Congress party. We implemented all promises made in Karnataka. Four out of five guarantees were rolled within 100 days of coming to power. Similarly our six guarantees here in Telangana have caught people's attention. And we will implement all our guarantees within 100 days of being sworn in.