Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar has questioned the Congress government in Telangana for printing photos of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on smart PDS ration cards issued by the state government. Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad on Saturday, Sanjay Kumar, the Union minister of state for Home, asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo is not printed on the cards despite the Centre providing rice to the state government.
Sanjay Kumar pointed out that the chief minister and the concerned minister are not permanent, and claimed that about Rs 600 crores is being spent on the smart cards. He drew a parallel with neighbouring Karnataka, where cards distributed by the Congress government had former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s photo, which became useless after he stepped down from the post.
The Union Minister criticized the Telangana government, saying that it is the Centre that provides rice to 57 lakh ration cards in the state. He questioned the right of the state government to print the photos of the chief minister and the minister on the cards. Sanjay Kumar also referred to the legislation making any insult to Vande Mataram a punishable offence, and accused AIMIM members of walking out when the national song was played in the assembly in the past.
Sanjay Kumar announced that he would organize singing of Vande Mataram with one lakh people at the Bhagyalakshmi temple at Charminar, and challenged AIMIM leaders to stall the programme. He also criticized the Congress government for not fulfilling its election promises, including financial assistance to unemployed youth and students’ tuition fees reimbursement.
The comments came on the day Chief Minister Revanth Reddy launched the distribution of smart PDS cards at Sangareddy town near Hyderabad.
