Telangana Chief Minister and BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday claimed that his party was going to form the next government at the Centre and his flagship scheme of Dalit Bandhu which offers financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to Scheduled Caste families will then be extended across the country.

Rao, popularly addressed as KCR, was addressing a gathering after unveiling a 125-foot-tall statue of Babasaheb BR Ambedkar on the Necklace Road when he declared that the BRS was getting a huge response from Maharashtra and the spark that has been lit would spread to other parts of the country as well.

“I once said that I was going to Delhi from Andhra Pradesh (unified state) and return only to the state of Telangana and that’s how it happened,” said KCR, adding that such declarations require self confidence. Exuding confidence, he went on to declare, “Let me tell you in the 2024 Parliament elections the next government will be ours. A spark is just what is needed to set off things and I’m already seeing a positive change in Maharashtra. Tomorrow we’ll get similar reactions from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and everywhere.”

The chief minister then announced that the Dalit Bandhu which was his brainchild aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship among the Dalits by giving each family Rs 10 lakh as financial assistance, would be extended to the entire country. Once his government is at the Centre 25 lakh Dalit families will get similar assistance every year. Without any bank loan linkage the Dalit Bandhu has been regarded as a game changer though KCR is yet to reap the benefits in elections.

The Dalit Bandhu Scheme also earned accolades from Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Babasaheb and a former Parliamentarian as an initiative aimed at implementing the economic vision of BR Ambedkar. Praising KCR, Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Babasaheb, said, “He has initiated a new consciousness among the downtrodden, he has given a new spark.”

Prakash Ambedkar, the president of Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi Bhavan, also said Babasaheb had wanted Hyderabad to be established as the second capital of the country and urged the Telangana government to pursue it.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the chief minister asking, “Why didn’t KCR take part in Dr BR Ambedkar Jayanthi and vardanthi programmes all these years? Didn’t KCR insult Babasaheb by asking to rewrite the constitution? What happened to the promise to make a Dalit the first chief minister? Why were Dalits not given 3 acres of land as promised?”