All five nominees in MLC polls declared elected

My ties with Gandhi family remain strong as ever: Revanth Slams BRS and BJP leaders for spreading canards DC CORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, MARCH 13 Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who asserted his strong ties with the Gandhi family, stated that he does not need to prove it by taking photographs with Gandhis and releasing them to the media. Responding to criticism from BRS leaders that Rahul Gandhi was not granting him an appointment in Delhi, he questioned, “Did the Gandhi family make me TPCC chief and Telangana CM without knowing about me?” In an informal chat with media persons in Delhi on Thursday, Revanth Reddy accused BRS and BJP leaders of spreading lies on his relations with the Gandhi family and rubbished reports that Rahul Gandhi was reluctant to meet him. “This is the trap laid by opposition parties to weaken the Congress government. I will not fall into any such trap,” he said. Reddy asked his predecessor K. Chandrasekhar Rao to actively participate in Legislative Assembly sessions. “He should not only attend the Governor’s address but also participate in discussions,” the CM remarked. He said that he had honoured the commitments made to those who worked hard for the Congress in Telangana. He cited recent political appointments as proof of his efforts to reward party loyalists. “As part of this, we have appointed Addanki Dayakar, Vijayashanti, and Shankar Naik as MLCs. We have appointed 37 corporation chairmen and provided nominated positions to all DCC presidents in the government,” he explained. The Chief Minister took aim at Union minister and state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy, accusing him of failing to secure benefits for Telangana from the central government. “Other union ministers are ensuring that their states get what they need. Why is Kishan Reddy not paying attention to Telangana’s needs?” he asked. Revanth Reddy reiterated that his government was not demanding funds for the six guarantees promised by Congress but only for projects already announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as RRR, metro rail phase-2, and the Musi river rejuvenation project. The Chief Minister announced that the state government had formed a committee, headed by Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka and veteran leader K. Jana Reddy, to convene an all-party meeting on the issue of delimitation of constituencies that is proposed by the Centre. “We are inviting Kishan Reddy to this meeting, and he must attend,” he urged. The state’s stance on delimitation will be finalised before the DMK meeting in Tamil Nadu, he said. He revealed plans to organise a three-day Bharat summit in Telangana next month. This will have delegates from 60 countries, he said. He said that the state government had approached the external affairs ministry to secure necessary approvals for the event. Providing an update on key infrastructure projects, Revanth Reddy stated that acquisition of 253 acres for Mamnoor airport was nearing completion. He also pointed out that once the Centre grants approvals for Hyderabad Metro Rail, Musi River project and other initiatives, banks were ready to provide funding.