Congress demands President Rule in Telangana

Says KCR-led TRS government has failed to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state

 

Hyderabad(Agencies): Senior Congress leader and former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president, Ponnala Laxmaiah, has sought the immediate imposition of President’s Rule in Telangana, accusing the Chief Minister and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government of failing to put in place a plan to contain COVID-19.

 “The Chief Minister does not care about the people and has failed to protect them from COVID-19, which is fast gripping the entire state,” said Ponnala.

The Congress leader told the media that the state had left the people to fend for themselves in the absence of any concrete plan, making it a fit case for imposing President's Rule in the state.

He said the Chief Minister had remained indifferent to the plight of the people even after Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, herself a medical practitioner, visited the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) and expressed reservations about the arrangements.

Ponnala said the Governor had reviewed the situation and shared her views time and again, but the government just looked the other way.

Telangana has seen the fastest rise in the number of COVID-19 patients, with close to around 2000 cases every day, majority of which are from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

While the government has just abandoned the people and lifted all lockdown restrictions, people are taking various initiatives for their safety. Most important markets have announced voluntary closure until things improve.

Telangana is perhaps one of the only states that have no restriction of movement of people in and out of the state.

Ponnala said it was astonishing that the government functionaries including bureaucrats and politicians have been kept in the dark about the whereabouts of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) for the past 11 days, leaving people guessing about the proposed safety measures to be taken, while positive cases were on the rise.

 “Since KCR has deserted the people, it’s a fit case for the centre to step in and impose Presidents Rule,” he said.

Lambasting the government for its “poor” and “below than required” testing in the state, Ponnala said it’s a case of “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burnt”.

He listed more than one reason for demanding the imposition of President's Rule stating that it starts with the mix-up in the identification of the dead at Gandhi Hospital to the atmosphere of fear and dismay across the state.

 “It is a clear case of the state being in the grip of severe uncertainty, the future looks bleak and only Presidents Rule can bring back the much-needed governance in Telangana to pull it out of the morass it currently is in,” said Ponnala.

The number of COVID-19 cases has touched 27,612 in Telangana, putting it at No. 6 in the country.

With 313 deaths and 11,012 active cases the situation in the state is alarming as there are 1,800 to 2,000 fresh cases each day.