HYDERABAD: Only when Hyderabad becomes 'Bhagyanagar' will the city be on the road to 'vikas' (development), said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, addressing a public gathering in Hyderabad on Saturday ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections on December 1.
Speaking at Lal Darwaza in Shah Ali Banda area of the Old City after a two-hour roadshow, Adityanath promised the voters that if the BJP is elected to power, it will change the name of the city to Bhagyanagar.
“People ask me, can Hyderabad be named to Bhagyanagar. I tell them, why not? They ask me how? I tell them how we changed Faizabad to Ayodhya and Allahabad to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh,” said Adityanath to a resounding cheer from the public gathered to hear him.
The Uttar Pradesh CM went on to target the TRS and MIM, stating that they have a tacit alliance. “TRS is ruling the city like the Nizams and have given a free hand to the MIM. Together they are looting the city’s fortunes. The TRS enabled the MIM to encroach the Musi river and these people have caused the city to drown,” said Adityanath.
He further went on to list the various central government schemes that are not being implemented in the state, like the PM Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi which he said have benefited lakhs in UP.
Adityanath then launched an attack on the TRS over one of the most contentious topics raised in this election - that of irregularities in flood relief distribution. “If Modiji could make use of technology and transfer money to the poorest via DBT, why has KCR chosen corrupt means and given room to such loot?” he said.
He further said, “The people must remember that in a democracy, there is no room for family-run politics which can swindle public money and remain unaccountable."
The UP CM garlanded the statue of Alluri Sitarama Raju ahead of his roadshow earlier in the day.
He kickstarted his roadshow from Jeedimetla. In the roadshow, the BJP star campaigner's cavalcade cut across the areas of Kukatpally, Jeedimetla, Serlingampally, Allwyn colony with chants of Jai Sri Ram reverberating across the roads.
The CM was joined by BJP Telangana state party president Bandi Sanjay and BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao.
The visit of the leader has triggered a Twitter storm with several Telangana users tweeting #UPChooskoYogi and #BaiganKaYogi which roughly translates to 'go back to UP, Yogi'. This is the second such hashtag trending in the city for a BJP leader after the party brought in leaders like Tejasvi Surya from other states to campaign for the local municipality election.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Saturday asked the people to select between 'Vikas Yukt' BJP and 'Communal politics Yukt' AIMIM. He said that voting for TRS is nothing but voting for AIMIM. He alleged Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is trying to spread lies about the AIMIM and TRS alliance.
Speaking at a press conference, he said the BJP will win the Mayor post in the ensuing GHMC elections. Countering AIMIM leaders' statements, he asked if they have to take a visa to visit Hyderabad.
Referring to the BJP bypoll victory, he said the BJP has defeated Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in his own citadel.
Taking a dig at the AIMIM, he said, after winning five seats in Bihar, it is not willing to take the name of Hindustan. “Nizam has barred them from taking the name of Hindustan,” he said. He alleged that the AIMIM resorts to divisive and exclusion politics.
“A few days ago, I and Asaduddin Owaisi -- the neo-Jinnah and Nizam -- had a debate on a national channel. Owaisi, being a member of parliament, has refused to accept Modi as his Prime Minister. Now, I am questioning you, do you accept Modi ji as your Prime Minister,” he added.