HYDERABAD: Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao has alleged a “clear nexus” between the ruling Congress and AIMIM in the upcoming Jubilee Hills byelection.
He claimed that the AIMIM candidate is contesting on a Congress B-form, exposing what he described as a “secret understanding” between the two parties.
Addressing a meeting at the BJP state headquarters in Hyderabad on Monday, where several professionals and intellectuals joined the party, Ramchander Rao said that the Congress candidate had previously contested on an AIMIM ticket and, after securing the Congress nomination, went straight to the AIMIM chief to seek his blessings.
“This is nothing short of deceiving the people of Jubilee Hills,” he said, accusing the AIMIM of fielding its member on a Congress ticket to secure victory through Congress support. He asserted that the arrangement amounted to cheating the electorate.
“A person who once contested under the AIMIM ‘kite’ symbol is now contesting on the Congress ‘hand’ symbol. It’s the same candidate, only the emblem has changed,” Ramchander Rao remarked, adding that AIMIM had earlier joined hands with the BRS to help it win key seats in Hyderabad.
‘Both BRS, Cong neglected Hyd civic infrastructure’
Turning his guns on both the previous BRS government and the present Congress regime, Ramchander Rao accused them of utter neglect of Hyderabad’s civic infrastructure, particularly in the Jubilee Hills constituency.
He pointed out that despite being one of the most high-profile areas of the city, Jubilee Hills “doesn’t have a single government office”, and suffers from poor drainage and bad roads — “a telling example of government apathy.”
He urged voters to compare the Modi government’s development and welfare initiatives at the national level with the “corruption and complacency” of the successive state governments, and to support the BJP candidate in the bypoll.
“People of Telangana have already shown faith in the BJP by electing eight MPs. It is time to extend that trust to the byelection too,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP state president has also written to party cadres, warning of action if the party discipline is defied.
