Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has kicked off the campaign of TDP-BJP alliance for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls by reminding people the work done by his Government in the past to develop Hyderabad into a global destination and changing the face of the city by developing the modern infrastructure.
However his address at the joint rally of the two parties at Nizam College Ground last night was marked for absence of any direct attack on his friend-turned-foe and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. This was being seen in the context of continuing bonhomie between the two Chief Ministers in the interest of better inter-State relations.
However in sharp contrast the other leaders of the TDP and the BJP, specially Naidu’s son N lokesh Babu continued their tirade against KCR and his Government.
Naidu in his brief address sought the support of the people of Hyderabad for his party on the plank of development. “Every one knows my contribution to the growth of Hyderabad city. You cant deny that it is me who put the city on the global map by developing infrastructure on all fronts whether it is IT or Pharma or hospitality sector”, he said.
Naidu urged the workers of both the parties to remain united and work for the victory of the alliance. Denying the reports that he had left Hyderabad, “I have not gone anywhere and will always be with you”, he said.
In contrast to his farher lokesh ridiculed KCR for not fulfilling any of his promises during the past 19 months. “ON the other hand Andhra Pradesh CM is a man of action”, he said lauding his father as Naidu watched.
“Naidu has put AP on the path of development but KCR has not done anything for Telangana”, he said.
State BJP president G Ksihan Reddy alleged a nexus between the TRS and the MIM. “The real fight is between the TRS-MIM and the TDP-BJP alliance in these elections. Voting for TRS is like supporting MIM”, he said alleging that the the TRS was conspiring to handover the Mayor’s post to MIM.
By sharing the stage with the State BJP leaders including its president G Kishan Reddy and union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Naidu dropped a clear indication that he was in no haste to end the tie up with the saffron party. The leaders of both the parties were hopeful of the alliance remaining intact even for the 2019 polls.
On Wednesday the Telangana state leader of the TDP and the BJP met Naidu to finalise the sharing of 150 seats of GHMC. They also discussed a combined Vision Document for the development of Hyderabad city.
GHMC has 74,36,247 voters on its rolls eligible to vote on February 2. With almost one third of them people from Seemandhra regions, (Now in Andhra Pradesh) all the parties were trying their best to woo them. While the ruling TRS was trying to allay their fears of discrimination, the TDP-BJP alliance has promised them the post of deputy Mayor.