Hyderabad: Medak MP Raghunandan Rao announced a major offer on Saturday and said villages that elect BJP-backed candidates in the upcoming panchayat polls will receive ₹25 lakh for development. He said the support will come either from MP funds or under CSR programmes. Rao addressed the media in Siddipet and criticised the practice of conducting auctions to secure unanimous sarpanch elections.
Rao said such attempts insult the spirit of Ambedkar’s Constitution. He added that unanimous polls go against democratic values. According to him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured direct central funding to panchayats so villages can plan development without delay. Rao also criticised the state government and said it failed to clear PF dues for government employees.
Raghunandan Rao targets state government and BRS leaders
Rao said the state faces a freeze on ₹3,500 crore from the 15th Finance Commission. He argued that this financial strain forced Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to push ahead with panchayat elections. He added that voters gain nothing by supporting BRS candidates. Rao mocked local BRS MLAs and said one avoids public meetings, another focuses on business, and another cannot function without checking newspaper clippings.
He said local leaders do not even know when the in-charge minister will visit the district. Rao said he spent 65 per cent of his MP funds in Siddipet district. He urged voters to support BJP-backed candidates if they want steady development in their villages.
BJP district president Bhairi Shankar Mudiraj, and leaders Vanga Ramchandra Reddy, Basangari Venkanna, Thodupunuri Venkatesham, Gone Markandeyalu and Gundla Janardhan attended the meeting.