HYDERABAD: In what appeared to be a throwback to the heady days of the Telangana movement, TRS activists on Wednesday spilled onto the roads, rending the air with slogans against Narendra Modi for his “venomous comments” on the way the Telangana State was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 and questioning the BJP for perpetuating ‘Modi’s Constitution’ in the country rather than the one authored by BR Ambedkar.
The day began with Ministers and MLAs going to town in their respective districts taking up cudgels against the BJP for discriminating against Telangana in sanctioning projects and funds and for not keeping the promises made in the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Tension prevailed in Jangaon when BJP activists tried to prevent TRS workers from burning the effigy of the Prime Minister. The TRS activists ma-nhandled the BJP workers and chased them away. Finance Minister T Harish Rao tweeted that the BJP government adopted agriculture Bills in Rajya Sabha with a voice vote, even though the party lacked a majority in the Upper House. Harish Rao wondered whether it was called democracy.Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav and others organised protests in Hyderabad, including a motorcycle rally.
TRS workers led by Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar took out a rally in Khammam and later formed a human chain at the Zilla Parishad office. Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar and Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy organised protests in Karimnagar and Nirmal respectively.
Meanwhile, the TRS activists also posted thousands of tweets against Modi with the hashtag #ModiEnemy of Telangana. Later in the evening, TRS working KT Rama Rao, taking Modi’s guts for the garter, asked him to apologise to the people of Telangana the way he did to farmers, bowing down to their agitation against farm laws.
Rama Rao said that Modi may have spewed venom on Telangana as he was jealous over the youngest State overtaking his home State of Gujarat in all aspects. “Modi was in Hyderabad recently to unveil the Statue of Equality. He might have seen the developed villages with green pastures and throbbing towns here which may have turned him green with envy,” Rama Rao charged.The IT Minister recalled the BJP promising two states for one vote in the past but went back on its word. “Now, Modi’s talk on Tuesday was like one mouth and two tongues (oka noru rendu nalkalu),” the TRS leader said.
He alleged that Modi uttered lies in the temple of democracy (Rajya Sabha). “The Prime Minister’s statement was nothing but nonsense and meaningless,” Rama Rao said. “Right from the beginning, BJP has been vengeful towards Telangana. The BJP government transferred seven mandals of the State and Lower Sileru Hydel power station to AP immediately after bifurcation,” the TRS working president said and reminded that several assurances listed in the AP Reorganisation Act have not been implemented so far.
He said that ‘Modi’s Constitution’ was being implemented in the country, as all the constitutional bodies like EC and the system of Governors are now under the control of the Prime Minister. “Is the Constitution drafted by Ambedkar in force in the country? No, it is the Narendra Modi Constitution that is being implemented. You know that institutions like the Governor and the Election Commission are under the control of Modi. He is running the show,” Rama Rao alleged.
Referring to educational institutions being closed in BJP-ruled Karnataka following hijab row, Rama Rao said asked: “Is this the India that you want? Communal passions are being instigated among students. They are threatening students in Karnataka. It’s not ‘beti bhachao, beti padhao’, but ‘beti darao, beti dhamkao’. Is this the India that you want?” Rama Rao asked Modi.