Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar, whose TRS party has been riding on a wave winning elections after elections, clarified Saturday that not only does the party oppose the new citizenship law but also champion the cause of opposing the act by bringing together all like-minded chief ministers, regional party leaders, and others by holding a conclave in Hyderabad very soon. He also stated that his party would pass a resolution against the CAA in the ensuing assembly session if need be. Appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rethink the new citizenship law, he said, "Wisdom should prevail in the country." "Take mid-course review if the people tell you. Why have false prestige in a democracy," he asked. According to him, the TRS party "by nature, and by policy, is a secular party." The prime minister, the home minister and other ministers have been giving contradictory statements about NPR and NRC. "It is so clear in the report tabled by the government in the Lok Sabha that NPR is the first step towards the creation of the NRC. But the home minister is saying contradictory statements. It is against the fundamental rights and the preamble of the Constitution. The Supreme Court should take suo-motu cognizance of this," he said. "We opposed the bill in parliament by conviction. The union government's decision is wrong. It is against the very preamble of the Indian constitution. This bill discriminated against Muslims. We consciously opposed it," he added. Meanwhile, the chief minister also came down heavily on the opposition asking the latter to respect the people's mandate. He was responding to allegations of blatant misuse of power leveled against the ruling party. "To be completely frank, as a party we spent around Rs 80 lakh for procuring campaign material for the candidates, for which I just paid the bill today morning. I have not spoken to any official during this period of the campaign. Other than sharing reports with a few party men, I have not spoken to anyone at all," he said. He added that the opposition by hurling allegations of bribing voters is insulting the voters' mandate. "Taking Telangana forward is a political game for other parties. For us, it is a task. We are working day in and day out. That's why we have achieved this result," he stated. According to him, the consistency with which the TRS party has been winning elections over the last several years is astonishing. "I have seen NTR wave, Indira Gandhi wave but not this kind of a consistent wave. I appeal our party workers to not take these victories into their head but keep working," he added. He said the party welcomed constructive criticism against the government's policies but not the personal slurs against its leaders. "Learn to respect the mandate given by the voters. Democracy otherwise will lose its value," he added.
