Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has alleged that the TRS Government in the State was on mission “Damage Hyderabad”.

“Hyderabad has been losing its image and branding at the global and national level since TRS Government took over in June 2014. From the “Most preferred IT Destination” to ranking second in the list of “Must See Destinations in the world”, Hyderabad has slipped to a position that it is now being conveniently ignored by the ranking agencies,” Shabbir Ali said while addressing a press conference at Congress Legislature Party office on Wednesday. He strongly condemned the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for not including Charminar, Golconda or any other heritage sites of Telangana into the list of Indian and World Heritage sites.

Shabbir Ali said exclusion of Charminar and Golconda from the ASI’s list contradicts Panchayat Raj Minister K. Tarakarama Rao’s claims on ‘Brand Hyderabad’. He said the idea of ‘Brand Hyderabad’ was conceived and perfectly executed by the previous Congress regime which developed world-class infrastructure at a cost of over Rs. 1 lakh crore from 2004-2014. “By bringing development activity to a complete halt, the TRS Government has badly damaged the city’s image. Instead of ‘Brand Hyderabad’, the TRS Government is pursuing the mission ‘Damage Hyderabad’. KCR and KTR must wake up from their slumber,” he said.

The Congress leader advised KTR to make direct representations with the Central Government over the injustices being done to Hyderabad and Telangana. Instead of accepting the reality and fighting for justice, KTR and his father and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao have confined themselves to boardroom discussions while making tall claims and fake promises every day.