Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the BJP is the only option before Telangana as both “family parties” the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti have destroyed the State over the last six decades and caused misery and sufferings to them.
Addressing two election rallies in Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar, Modi also urged the people of Telangana not to allow the Congress to re-enter the State and follow the example of States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Tamil Nadu where the Congress could not return to power even after 40 years.
“If you elect the BJP in the State and we already have a BJP Government at the Centre, you will get double “Kamal Chhap” (Lotus symbol) engines and we will take Telangana far off on the path of development,” he said.
“The Chief Minister of Telangana and his family think they can get away with doing no work like the Congress.... They have adopted the style of the Congress which ruled for 50-52 years without doing anything. But that cannot happen now,” Modi told an election rally in Nizamabad, as he took the poll battle to Rao’s turf.
Rao’s daughter K Kavitha represents Nizamabad in the Lok Sabha.
“Congress and TRS are two faces of the same coin. Both parties are competing against each other on who tells more lies. TRS and Congress are family-ruled parties playing a friendly match in Telangana polls,” he said, adding it was a “big joke” that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi assailed the TRS for being a “family party” at an election rally last week.
Modi sought to appeal to “Telangana pride” when he referred to AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi’s recent remark that whoever became the Chief Minister of Telangana or undivided Andhra Pradesh had to bow before his party.
“A leader recently said whoever became the CM of Andhra Pradesh-Telangana had to be at his feet (kadmon ke neeche). You fought for Telangana for your self-respect. Will you want a CM who bows at the feet of some leader instead of the people of Telangana?” the Prime Minister told another rally at Mahbubnagar.
K Chandrasekhar Rao’s TRS has friendly ties with AIMIM of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
While accusing Rao of “destroying” Telangana through his Government’s policies and not fulfilling his promises to people, Modi targeted the Congress for silencing the aspirations of the State for two decades with “bullets”.
Ridiculing Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s promise of developing Nizamabad into London, the Prime Minister said, “Let him first ensure drinking water supply to the people. Even basic facilities are not available here,” he said.
He also targeted the Chief Minister for his belief in “mantr and tantr” (religious rituals).
It was Modi’s first election tour since the campaign for the December 7 State Assembly elections began in the State. In his typical acerbic style Modi targeted both the Congress and the TRS and charged them with having a secret understanding. While his entire firepower was concentrated on the Congress and the TRS, surprisingly he did not made any reference to his friend-turned-foe Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu.
“Did KCR (Chief Minister) not destroy the State after the formation of Telangana?” he asked the gathering. “The reason was that his apprenticeship and training was in the Congress. If he has destroyed the State so much, if those who have done PhD in the destruction come to power they will cause hundred times more destruction,” he said urging the people to give an opportunity to the BJP in the State. “Don’t allow even one Congress candidate to win. Otherwise they will never learn.”
“State after the State has wiped out the Congress as it had destroyed the country,” he said.
Trying to raise the regional sentiments of the people he reminded them that the Congress Government is responsible for killing hundreds of youth in firing who had raised the demand for separate State in the past. “Will you allow such Congress to come back to power in the State”, he said. Modi praised Telangana as a land where the people bravely stood up against the “repression of Razakars”, referring to the militia active during Nizam’s rule.
He also lashed out at the Congress for making personal attacks on him in the campaign. “Instead of talking of the issues of development they are asking what is the caste of Modi, what is the age of Modi’s mother and what is the name of Modi’s father. Is it the way of running a campaign?” he asked.
Modi contrasted the performance of his own Government at the Centre saying he was able to change the lives of the poorest of the poor through various welfare and development schemes.
Out of the six crore free gas connections given to the poor families in the country, six lakh connections were given in Telangana alone, he said. Under the Saubhagya Yojna four lakh households were given electricity connections in the State.
Holding the Congress responsible for the rich and powerful businessmen looting the nationalised banks during the UPA rule, he promised that the wealth of the businessmen who had fled the country will be seized and the looted wealth of the people will be recovered. “After I came to power the gates of looting of the banks were closed,” the PM said.
State BJP leaders said the successful rallies of Modi had given a shot in the arm to the their campaign across the State. The BJP, which had only 5 assembly seats in 2014, all in Hyderabad, had largely concentrated its campaign to the State capital till now. Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar were among the districts where the BJP is now hoping to break fresh ground and win a couple of Assembly seats.
With less than 10 days left before the campaign comes to an end, Modi was expected to undertake another round of campaign in the State and addressing a meeting in Hyderabad.