KCR intimidating Oppn leaders, says Shabbir Ali

The leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Saturday accused Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao of intimidating leaders of opposition parties in the State. Speaking after paying rich tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 25th death anniversary at a function organised by Congress MP V. Hanumantha Rao at Rajiv Gandhi statue at Somajiguda, Shabbir Ali said that the Congress party would never get cowed down by such threats. "We will continue to raise people's issues and expose the failures of the TRS Government. The Congress party brought freedom for the country and granted statehood for Telangana. While doing so, its leaders faced several difficulties. Therefore, it would be an honour for the Congress leaders to go to jail for the sake of common people and it is not uncommon for them," he said. He said that the Congress leaders and workers were ready to have a direct confrontation with the ruling TRS on public issues. He said that the Congress believed in the ideology of revolutionary poet Bismil Azimabadi who said, “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamaray Dil Mein Hai, Dekhna Hai Zor Kitan Bazuai Kaatil Mein Hai.” (The desire to make a sacrifice is in our hearts; Let us see what strength there is in the arms of our executioner). Earlier, Shabbir Ali recalled the services of Rajiv Gandhi for the country. He said after Mahatma Gandhi, the sacrifices of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi would always be remembered in the history. He described Rajiv as the architect of modern India and said it was due to his vision that India had witnessed a technological revolution. By reducing the age for voting from 22 to 18 years, Rajiv empowered youth and his vision for modern India enabled lakhs of youth to get jobs, both in India and abroad.