Hyderabad, Nov 9 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday exuded confidence that Congress will remain in power for another eight years.

'Mark my word - Congress will be in power until June 2034 in Telangana,' he told journalists at the Meet the Press programme organised by the Hyderabad Press Club.

Listing out the development works undertaken by his government during the last two years, Revanth Reddy said he was confident of the party getting a fresh mandate.

The Chief Minister also predicted that the next Assembly elections will not be held in December 2028. "The next elections will be in June 2029 when simultaneous polls will be held for all state Assemblies and Lok Sabha," he said.

Revanth Reddy said that Telangana had witnessed a robust growth during the Congress regime in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh and claimed that the state has been witnessing rapid growth under the 'People's Government' since 2023 in Telangana.

Coming down heavily on the previous BRS government, the CM said that former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) ruined Telangana during his 10-year rule.

He recalled that when KCR formed the government in 2014, Telangana had a surplus budget of Rs 16,000 crore, but he handed over the reins to the Congress government in 2023 with a debt of over Rs 8.11 lakh crore.

He slammed KCR for building huge structures like Command Control, Secretariat, and Pragathi Bhavan but generating not even a single job. "KCR spent Rs 1 lakh crore on the Kaleshwaram project, but not a single acre was irrigated. On Irrigation alone, the BRS government spent Rs 1.85 lakh crore without any use," he said.

He alleged that the previous government also destroyed Universities by not appointing Vice Chancellors and by closing down 5000 schools. It failed to construct a new building for the Osmania Hospital and the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS).

The Chief Minister also remarked that becoming Chief Minister is not in the destiny of BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao (KCR). He said KCR acted like Dhritarashtra for his son. "KTR changed the directions in the name of Vastu, but what is the use when KTR's destiny is not good?" he remarked.

Revanth Reddy also accused KTR of being unjust to his own sister, K. Kavitha. He said the same KTR was making tall claims about the well-being of the BRS candidate in the Jubilee Hills bypoll, Maganti Sunitha and her family members.

The Chief Minister also trained guns on Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy for what he called diverting the Telangana project to Gujarat. "Kishan Reddy is playing Gujarat 'Ghulam' (slave) role and obstructing the growth of Telangana," he said.

CM Revanth Reddy reiterated that BRS and BJP have a 'fevicol bond'. He asked why the BJP government at the Centre failed to launch a CBI probe into the Kaleshwaram scam despite the state government handing over the case to the central agency.

He also pointed out that the Governor has not given permission for KTR's arrest in the Formula E race case, though the state government sought the permission three months ago.

He claimed that it was because of the efforts of the Congress governments that Hyderabad became an IT and knowledge city and a hub for global capability centres.

He mentioned that Hyderabad accounts for 40 per cent of the bulk drugs supply, and it attracted investment of $1 billion by Eli Lilly and also the investments by American Airlines and McDonald's.

The CM also highlighted the Congress's efforts behind Hyderabad becoming a growth corridor. He mentioned that 65 per cent of Telangana's income comes from Hyderabad city. Rangareddy district has the highest per capita income in the country, the Chief Minister said, adding that this was due to the proactive decisions taken by the Congress.

He said the credit for distributing 25 lakh acres of assigned land and 10 lakh acres of Podu lands and implementing the slogan of "Dhunne wadi ke bhoomi" (land for the tiller) all goes to the Congress governments.

He claimed that former Union Minister, the late S. Jaipal Reddy, played a key role in developing the Metro Rail project in Hyderabad.

He said the present Congress government spent Rs 7,100 crore on the scheme for free bus travel for women and saved the RTC from losses. It increased Rajiv Aarogya Sri's limit to Rs 10 lakhs. It is also constructing a new building for Osmania Hospital at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore. The government is providing ration cards, supplying cooking gas at Rs 500, and 200 units of free power. It also waived off Rs 21,000 crores of farm loans and provided Rs 9,000 crore in Rythu Bharosa benefits in nine days. The People's Government also conducted a BC caste census and made the Union government announce a caste census along with the population census in the country, he said.

CM Revanth Reddy said that Telangana became the first state in the country to implement the Scheduled Caste sub-classification. It established a Young India Skills University and a Police School, and also built Young India Residential Schools. Plans have also been prepared to bring 20 TMC of Godavari water to Hyderabad, he added.

/IANS