Banking on the ‘development’ plank, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) heavyweight B. Vinod Kumar, one of the founding members of the TRS (now BRS), is eyeing to win back the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, which he represented from 2014 to 2019, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections slated for May 13.
Mr. Vinod is the BRS candidate for the high-stakes Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency, which was the epicentre of the separate Telangana movement.
The former vice-chairman of Telangana State Planning Board is spearheading a vigorous campaign using key election slogan ‘Vinodanna Galam Karimnagar Ku Balam’ seeking votes to become ‘people’s voice’ in Parliament.
He is pitted against the BJP’s Bandi Sanjay Kumar, incumbent MP from Karimnagar, and the Congress party’s Velichala Rajender Rao.
Mr. Vinod claims to have participated in 106 debates and raised 553 questions in Parliament during his tenure as MP (2014-2019).
Amid the high voltage electioneering, Mr. Rao talks about his election campaign and the BRS’s electoral prospects in an interview with The Hindu. Excerpts from the interview:
Such questions were raised even earlier during the launching of our political party (Telangana Rashtra Samithi). There were some political critics who said that even in the event of TRS winning all the 17 seats in Telangana, how can TRS achieve Statehood for Telangana. They expressed cynicism saying it required 272 MP seats to ensure passage of a Bill in the Parliament for formation of Telangana State. But we proved our critics wrong. Even by winning five MP seats in 2004, we sensitised the national political parties on the struggle for Statehood for Telangana. And 28 political parties have given consent letters for the formation of Telangana. Subsequently, the long cherished dream of Statehood for Telangana was realised through agitations and all other processes.
The BJP and the Congress had won four and three MP seats each in the 2019 elections in Telangana. But the MPs of both the national parties have failed to raise their voices to ensure Telangana gets its due share in development. Telangana should have 23 Navodaya Vidyalayas as per the law that mandates one Navodaya Vidyalaya in each district. I raised this issue and asked questions multiple times in Parliament. None of the MPs of the BJP and the Congress have ensured that the voice of people of Telangana is heard in Parliament. Even after achieving Telangana there is a dire need for a strong voice in the Parliament for the welfare of the people of Telangana.
It is because of my persistent efforts and the initiative of the first chief minister of Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Karimnagar was included in the Smart City project in 2016. Karimnagar town witnessed transformational change in terms of improvement of civic amenities, roads, civic and sports infrastructure among others. A cable bridge was constructed as part of an ambitious plan to give a fillip to tourism as part of the Manair River Front Project. The long pending new railway line between Manoharabad and Siddipet was completed and works on the remaining stretch of the railway line from Siddipet to Kothapalli (Karimnagar) are expected to be completed by December 2025.
My consistent efforts and constant persuasion with the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways paved the way for sanction of funds for 133km National Highway (NH765DG) between Elkaturthy-Husnabad-Siddipet-Medak and NH-563 between Jagtial-Karimnagar-Huzurabad-Warangal.
Yes, it is my ambition to ensure the setting up of a world class skill development centre in Karimnagar parliamentary constituency on the lines of the Singapore-based Institute of Technical Education for the benefit of youth.
We are banking on the ‘development plank’ by highlighting the achievements of the previous BRS government and its development endeavour. Irrigation projects are considered as modern temples as mentioned by our visionary leaders. But my political opponent Mr. Sanjay neither built a temple nor a school in the constituency in the past five years.
