Congress Leader Jabs BRS Leader Over Not Voting For Veep Polls, He Hits Back

BRS working president K T Rama Rao on Monday lashed out at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over remarks on the Vice Presidential election, firmly stating that the BRS is the "A-team of Telangana" and not a "B-team" for either the BJP or the Congress. The retort came after Mr Ramesh's tweet suggested that parties abstaining from the poll were implicitly aligning with the BJP.

The BRS had announced its decision to abstain from the Vice-Presidential election, a move that the party says is rooted in its commitment to the people of Telangana and a protest against the failures of both national parties. This, even though India bloc candidate B Sudarshan Reddy is from Telangana, and there is pressure on the BRS as a party that was formed to espouse Telangana's interests.

The KTR-led party has said its decision to abstain is directly linked to the ongoing urea shortage affecting farmers in Telangana. KTR clarified that the party's non-participation is a form of protest against the central and state governments' failure to address the agrarian crisis. He stated that neither the BJP-led NDA at the Centre nor the Congress government in Telangana has responded to the urgent needs of the state's farmers.

Speaking to reporters, KTR said that the BRS would have exercised the "None of the Above" (NOTA) option had it been available in the Vice-Presidential election. He highlighted that while the party has no issue with the candidates themselves, the NDA's C P Radhakrishnan and the INDIA bloc's B Sudarshan Reddy, their decision to abstain is a political message.

The party's loyalty, he emphasised, is to the people of Telangana and their welfare, not to the power games of Delhi-based parties.

KTR's direct response to Jairam Ramesh dismantled what he called an "outdated 'either with us or with them' binary." He accused the Congress of being trapped in an arrogant and entitled mindset that has contributed to its declining political relevance across the country.

"Jairam Ji, this sense of entitlement and arrogance is what made Congress fail in contemporary politics," KTR said.

"'Either you are with us or else you're with them' claim is a silly argument posturing as if the nation is bipolar. We are neither the B-team of Congress nor the B-team of the BJP. We are the A-team of Telangana people," he said.

The BRS leader further advised Congress to focus on its own "failures" rather than attempting to discredit regional parties through what he described as "false binaries." The BRS, with four Rajya Sabha MPs, has made it clear that its political decisions will be guided by the interests of its state, cementing its stance as a regional force independent of the national political alignments.