Hyderabad, Feb 4 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, on Wednesday, appealed to people to vote for the ruling Congress party in the municipal elections to ensure that welfare and development programmes continue in the state.

Launching the partyâ??s campaign for the February 11 municipal elections at Miryalguda in Nalgonda district, he promised that Congress would transform municipalities into models of development.

Listing out the welfare schemes implemented by the Congress government during the last two years, he said the victory of Congress would mean a victory of poor.

Reiterating that Congress will remain in power for another eight years, he exuded confidence that the partyâ??s flag will fly high in all 123 urban local bodies going to the polls.

He urged people to remember the schemes like fine rice, ration cards, Rythu Bharosa, loan waiver, free bus travel for women, 70,000 government jobs, and Indiramma houses before casting their votes.

â??It is your responsibility to ensure this government wins,â?? he said.

He said his government brought many development and welfare programmes for the poor, for tribals, unemployed youth, women, and minorities.

Stating that after the formation of Telangana, the previous government did not even issue ration cards, he said as soon as the â??people's governmentâ?? came to power, it issued ration cards to lakhs of people.

â??The coarse rice given by the previous government was only useful for feeding buffaloes. We are providing fine rice to 3.1 crore people. Everyone who is cooking and eating with this fine rice should vote for the Congress party,â?? he said.

He said the government is providing 200 units of free electricity to every household while continuing to provide free electricity for agriculture.

â??Under Rythu Bharosa, we are giving farmers 6,000 rupees per acre. We have given 9,000 crores to farmers in just 9 days,â?? he said, adding that the next instalment under the scheme will be paid after municipal elections.

He claimed that the government has so far spent more than one lakh crores for farmers.

â??We have provided free travel for women in RTC buses. If the women who have travelled for free in RTC buses vote for Congress, BJP, and BRS will not even get their deposits back,â?? he remarked.

Revanth Reddy said that former chief minister KCR lured people with promises of building double-bedroom houses.

â??He was the Chief Minister for 10 years. He built a farmhouse and Pragathi Bhavan for himself but did not think about building houses for the poor.â??

The Chief Minister said that after the â??people's governmentâ?? came to power, it sanctioned 4.50 lakh Indiramma houses.

â??We are depositing the money directly into the beneficiaries' accounts without any middlemen or fraud. Every MLA is requesting us to sanction more Indiramma houses. We are going to sanction new Indiramma houses in the upcoming budget,â?? he said.

He accused the previous government of BRS of looting the people. He also slammed BRS for alleged phone tapping

He said the phones of political rivals, journalists, film stars and even judges were tapped.

â??Would any decent person listen in on a husband and wife's private conversation. Some people are asking if they will investigate the father of the nation,â?? he said, mocking BRS leaders for calling KCR the father of Telangana.

He asked KCR if he was really the father of Telangana, would he give away the assets he and his family amassed to the people of Telangana?

â??Will you give KTR's Janwada farmhouse, KCR's Erravalli farmhouse, Harish Rao's Moinabad farmhouse, TVs, newspapers, and thousands of crores to the people of Telangana?â?? he asked.

/IANS