HYDERABAD: At a time when the morale of the BJP workers was a bit low after the party lost the by-election for Munugode, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appreciation of their fighting spirit, while addressing them at Begumpet airport here on Saturday, came as a shot in the arm.
When Modi said he was noticing the first signs of the lotus blooming in Telangana, it seemed to have lifted their spirits as there was an enthusiastic response from them. They cheered him when he said that the party workers had brought the entire State government to Munugode which itself is a great achievement.
According to party leaders, the key takeaway from Modi’s speech was that the party should not lose heart but fight back and capture power in the State in the next election.
That Modi is taking Telangana seriously is borne out of the fact that he had warned KCR that he would not spare him if he continues to go against the people.
The saffron party leaders argue that it is for the first time that Modi so explicitly warned his political rival in the State. It is a clear indication that he wants the party to buckle up and fight against KCR and not give up the struggle just because the party lost Munugode which should be considered as a blip. They say that Modi’s warning to him that he would not leave him if he abuses people should be treated as an indication that the BJP was preparing for a showdown with all seriousness.
For many, Modi’s observation that TRS made a mistake by joining hands with communists who were by nature against development, came as a surprise, as they did not think he had observed the by- election so closely. This had shown that Modi was paying a lot of attention on Telangana and party workers rise up to his expectations.
Modi’s bellicose posturing appears to be a retaliation to TRS defaming the BJP using the Aziznagar farmhouse incident. The party has already stated that the entire incident was orchestrated by the TRS and that it was a sham and yet it seemed to have done some damage to the party. The prime minister may have been hurt by the way KCR went to town painting the saffron party as one inimical to democracy.
A former BJP MP had commented that the belligerent attitude of the PM was more or less like handing out a road map to the party as to how it should take on the TRS, going forward. As the prime minister mentioned bhrashtachar a couple of times, it is being seen as an indication that many more raids by the central agencies on the TRS top guns would follow.
CHUGH SAYS KCR FUNDED ‘FAKE’ PROTESTS
Hyderabad: BJP national general secretary and party’s in-charge of Telangana, Tarun Chugh criticised CM K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday for deliberately skipping PM Narendra Modi’s official programmes in Ramagundam. In a statement to the media, Chugh stated that the CM has repeatedly demonstrated his arrogance by not attending the PM’s programmes which were meant for the development of Telangana.
“This time, he stooped too low in orchestrating artificial protests against the PM’s visit by liberally funding a few parasitic political parties and organisations. In spite of all that, the people of Telangana have demonstrated their love for the prime minister by turning up for the meetings at Hyderabad and Ramagundam in large numbers,” he added.