Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has reacted to the controversy over the four Shankaracharyas deciding not to attend the ‘pran pratishtha‘ of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. He said the Ram Temple belonged to all Hindus and asserted that the BJP was playing “religious politics” in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
In an exclusive interview with India Today TV with News Director Rahul Kanwal, Revanth Reddy said he wanted to visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya someday.
“Ram Temple belongs to all Hindus. It has nothing to do with the BJP. How will it help them politically? If they are claiming they are going to get some benefits from the Ram Temple, they are playing religious politics,” he said.
“Recently, four Shankaracharyas said they will not go to Ayodhya as the temple is incomplete. Whoever believes in such things, can go. This is not the first day or the last day,” he added.
Revanth Reddy said he used to visit a Ram temple in Telangana’s Bhadrachalam. He said, “I don’t find any difference between Ayodhya and Bhadrachalam Ram Temple.”
INVESTMENTS FOR TELANGANA
Revanth Reddy, who is on his maiden visit to the picturesque Swiss town of Davos for the 54th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, laid out his vision for attracting investments to Telangana.
“My core areas are education, IT, pharma, sports and employment in other sectors. My focus is also on 30 lakh young people who are techies. We want to focus on organic food. I want to establish pharma villages in 10-12 clusters in Telangana and develop the best universities in and around Hyderabad,” he said.
Revanth Reddy said he did not want Telangana to compete with neighbouring states like Karnataka, Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh, “but with the world”.
“We are inviting investors from worldwide to the state. We want to compete with the world, not with Karnataka, Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh. For me, the world is one village,” he said.
Stressing that investors believed in stable governance for investments, the Chief Minister said his policies “were different” from the previous BRS government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).
“Whether it is the BRS or the Congress, we have to continue formulating development policies. The IT and pharma sectors did not begin under the BRS regime. It started way back in 1993. Development has been ongoing for the last 30 years and will continue to do so,” he said.
BHARAT JODO NYAY YATRA
Speaking about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that was flagged off by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Manipur, Revanth Reddy said people were eagerly waiting for the yatra and said the initiative will create a wave in the run-up to this year’s Lok Sabha polls.
“To give justice to this country, vote for the Congress or the INDIA bloc. The INDIA bloc can do something better for our country,” he said.
LOK SABHA POLL PROSPECTS
Revanth Reddy exuded confidence of “winning 14 to 17 Lok Sabha seats” in Telangana, adding that the Congress’s electoral battle will be with the BRS and not the BJP. The state has a total of 17 parliamentary seats.
“I have told you earlier that at the time of assembly polls, the BJP claimed they would form the government in Telangana. I said they will be in third place and single digits. The fight is between the BRS and the Congress. My main opponent in the Lok Sabha is the BRS,” he said.
Asked whether the 2024 Lok Sabha polls were a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, Revanth Reddy cited the examples of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and KCR.
“In 2004, BJP’s campaign was about ‘India Shining’. Nobody thought that Atal Bihari Vajpayee would lose. Then, Congress came and ruled for 10 years under the UPA-1 and UPA-2 governments. In Telangana, KCR also thought he couldn’t lose, but we defeated him. So, everyone has to work hard.”