I left BRS as it turned into the looter of Telangana, not its saviour: Konda

Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, BJP MP candidate for Chevella in Telangana, is a rare politician who doesn’t see politics as a means to make money. For, he has lots of it. With a total family wealth of Rs 4,568 crore, he is the richest MP candidate in Telangana and among the richest in fray across India. “Being richest MP candidate is an advantage for me as people know that I am not in politics to make money. There is an overwhelming support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi across India and so it will be a cakewalk for me in Chevella in the 2024 General Elections,” Vishweshwar Reddy tells Bizz Buzz in an exclusive interview. Konda, who won as Chevella MP in 2014 on behalf of BRS (then TRS), but lost it in 2019 on the Congress ticket, recently released a 24-page Sankalp Patra that outlined his vision for the development of the Chevella parliamentary constituency

How is the response to your election campaign?

Response to our campaign is extremely good, especially in rural areas where we are weak. Recently, I was campaigning in colonies in the Serilingampally area. Around 60 people from a village near Shankarpally came in their own vehicles and joined our party. Normally, it doesn’t happen that way. We go to people and convince them to join our party. This was the opposite. This shows how positive people are about the Bharatiya Janata Party. My Praja Ashirwad Yatra which I took up to take blessings of people before filing nomination also evoked similar response. During that yatra, over 6,000 people joined our party. In fact, that was more than the number of votes we got in the Tandur Assembly segment recently. Our target is to double our votes in all seven Assembly segments that are part of the Chevella parliamentary constituency.

You contested on TRS ticket in 2014, on behalf of Congress in 2019 and now you are with BJP. That way, you have been contesting with a new symbol every time. Is that not a challenge?

No, it’s not a challenge for me because I have not changed. It was parties that took U-turns. For instance, the BRS (then TRS) party that was to be saviour of Telangana made a U-turn and started looting Telangana. It turned a surplus State like Telangana into a bankrupt one, weighed down by an enormous debt burden of Rs 7 lakh crore now. Nowadays, politicians make a beeline to any ruling party because power gives lots of perks and benefits. But I left BRS when it was in power. Nobody does that. That is the reason why people of Telangana and Ranga Reddy district respect and adore me. I strengthened BRS in Ranga Reddy district, but the party looted in my district also. To defeat BRS, I joined Congress as BJP was weak in 2019. But I was disappointed as Congress leaders including MLAs got sold out. So, I strongly feel that it was BRS and Congress which changed. I did not change.

My family and I always fought for the region. We have a history of fighting with powers-that-be. My grandfather Konda Ranga Reddy (first deputy chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh) even fought against the Congress party whenever it went in the wrong direction. Even though he was in the Congress party, he opposed the merger of the Telangana region with Andhra after Independence. Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister, betrayed him and went ahead with the merger. My uncle Marri Chenna Reddy fought against Indira Gandhi when she refused to give Telangana. He formed Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS) and won 10 out of 11 MP seats in Telangana (in 1971). However, Indira Gandhi betrayed him after merging TPS with Congress. So, it’s nothing new for our family to fight against the ruling party. We are always with the region and people.

But BJP is for India, is for Telangana and is for my region. BJP never takes U-turns and never sells itself out. So, it suits me and my vision. In my last two elections, my performance was better in rural areas when compared to urban areas. BJP’s footprint is exactly the opposite as it is strong in urban clusters. So, contesting on BJP this time has put me in an advantageous position.

Who is your main rival in this election? Is it Congress or BRS?

There is a tough fight between Congress and BRS for second place. We are way ahead of them. In Tandur and Parigi Assembly segments, BRS will come second while Congress will be in third place. In Vikarabad, Congress will come second, BRS third. In Chevella, it is going to be a tight fight between the two for second place. Congress may stand second in the Hyderabad city areas that fall under my constituency. But don’t write off BRS as it also has good chances of coming second in the constituency.

What are your developmental plans for the constituency?

I always had. When I was BRS MP, I brought projects worth thousands of crores for the development of my constituency. Now, I am in BJP which will again form the government at the Centre. So, I will get much more than that. I already released my manifesto (sankalp patra), my vision for the development of the constituency. I have hundreds of projects lined up for its development. My aim is to create jobs in rural areas, not in urban clusters. That will result in the development of our villages. I will execute my plans at four levels. One is what I can do personally and second is what I can do with MPLAD funds. At third level, I will influence and get projects to this area. Fourth, I will focus on policies that will benefit the constituency. The fourth one is the most important task.

At the personal level, I already used my own funds to clean bathrooms at 200 schools in my constituency. I will now extend this programme to all government schools in the constituency. I also set up a biogas plant in my village. It is currently supplying cooking gas to 40 houses through a gas pipeline. I will extend this to all of over 1,000 houses in the village and turn it into India’s first model village that has given up LPG gas, not just LPG subsidy. Then, I am going to fight with Modi ji to come to my village. If this model is replicated across India, we can save almost Rs 1.2 lakh crore. If every village produces its own bio-gas, LPG consumption will come down drastically. Moreover, I will develop a food processing park in a big way in the constituency.

In this election, BJP prospects seem to be revolving around three key factors: PM Modi, Ayodhya and Viksit Bharat. Which one of these three factors will help you in this election?

It is the trust in Prime Minister Modi that will help me in this election. He built trust in the minds of people on multiple counts. He did things people did not ask for. He implemented a five-kg free rice scheme for the poor across the country. No one asked him to do that. But he did that as he understood the needs of people. No one asked him to give bathrooms, but Modi knew the problems of people and gave that. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is one of the many things that Modi has given to the country without asking for. I truly believe he is the greatest personality India has ever produced. He inspires people cutting across political parties. In fact, 60 per cent of my votes in this election will come from those who voted for Congress recently. And 80 per cent of those who voted for BRS in the last elections will vote for me in the Lok Sabha polls.

You are the richest MP candidate in Telangana. Is that an advantage in the elections?

I am richest with white, tax-paying money. But there are some people in the State who can easily buy 10 Vishweshwar Reddys. In public perception, my richest status is advantageous for me as people know very well that I don’t need to make money in politics. They know that I don’t need to blast Hanuman temples, convert them into apartments and take favours from the ruling party. I can afford to be in the Opposition and fight. People respect me for that. People say such a wealthy man has not definitely come to politics to make money.

Some say that after the polls, BJP will go after the Congress government in Telangana and bring it down. Is there any chance of the Congress government collapsing in Telangana?

My prediction is that the Congress government in Telangana will not collapse due to political reasons. It will definitely collapse due to financial reasons. It’s not a speculation. It’s a fact. The only person who can save the Congress government is Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s elder brother. Who is that? It’s Modi ji. But Modi will not do that. Congress has given guarantees, but failed to implement them. Power cuts have already started. The water tanker culture made a comeback in Hyderabad. There are no funds with the government even for water, power. For implementing loan waiver, the Chief Minister will need over Rs 30,000 crore. Where will he get that kind of money from? Will he bring it from Italy? People will start revolting.

As the State government doesn’t have money to implement its promises, Congress leaders are going for diversionary tactics by resorting to baseless allegations that BJP will change the Constitution and scrap reservations. They don’t have any other strategy. BJP will form the next government in Telangana. That’s 200 per cent sure.