KCR wanted to join NDA but we rejected, says PM Modi; KTR’s rebuttal follows
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao runs away from his official programmes because he knows Modi won’t tolerate a corrupt person sitting beside him
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had requested him to admit his party into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in December 2020, and added that there was no question of allowing the BRS into the NDA and the coalition had rejected the proposal.
Addressing a public rally at Giriraj College grounds in Nizamabad town, the Prime Minister said he “would disclose a secret”.
“In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in December 2020, the BJP had won 48 out of 150 seats, and no party got the absolute majority to capture the corporation. Soon after the polls, KCR came to Delhi to seek our support,” he said.
“He felicitated me with bouquets and shawls. He showed me so much love towards me, which was against his character. He told me the country was making rapid progress under my leadership. Then he said, his party, too, wanted to be part of the NDA and, sir, please take us into the NDA. I was surprised and asked him the reason. He said he wanted the support of the BJP in the GHMC.”
Modi said he rejected Rao’s request and said the BJP would never join hands with the BRS and had no hesitation to sit in the opposition. “I told him we are ready to face any kind of harassment from the state government, but we won’t cheat the people of Telangana. We shall take our journey forward with those 48 seats. There is no question of allowing the BRS into the NDA and we rejected his proposal,” he said.
The Prime Minister recalled that a few days later, Rao came to Delhi again and told him he had done enough for the state of Telangana and that he wanted to hand over the responsibility of the state to his son KT Rama Rao.
“He told me that he would send his son to me once and sought my blessings for him. I told him clearly that it is a democracy and he is not a king or emperor to hand over the reins to his successor; and that it is for the people of Telangana to decide whom to elect and whom to reject,” the Prime Minister said.
That was the last time Rao met him, Modi said. “Before the GHMC elections, whenever I came to Hyderabad, KCR used to come to the airport with a lot of paraphernalia and profusely garland me. After his meeting with me in Delhi, he stopped seeing eye to eye with me. He was scared of even seeing my shadow and has been avoiding me. Just now, when I took part in the official programmes, too, he ran away from me, because he knows I won’t tolerate a corrupt person sitting beside me,” the Prime Minister said.
Stating that hundreds of people had sacrificed their lives for the formation of Telangana state, the Prime Minister said it was unfortunate that only one family got the benefit out of the new state and it was looting the people. “Only KCR, his son, daughter and nephew had become rich,” he alleged.
Corruption had reached a new high during the Rao regime and his family was swindling even central funds. “There are no employment opportunities for the youth and all the other sections have suffered during the BRS rule. The people of Telangana should not give another opportunity to this dynastic rule,” he asserted.
Modi also cautioned the people of Telangana to be wary of the Congress party, which, he said, had secret understanding with the Congress. “Even in Karnataka, they had behind-the-screen agreements,” he said.
The Prime Minister said Sardar Patel had liberated Hyderabad from the Nizam and another leader from Gujarat has now come for prosperity of the state. “Today another son of Gujarat came for your prosperity, development and welfare,” he said.
Stating that the BJP was committed to the development of Telangana, the Prime Minister pointed to various initiatives taken by the Centre, such as expansion of railway lines, setting up of a 4,000 MW NTPC power plant and building of hospitals.
He requested women in the state to extend their support to the BJP in the coming assembly elections, saying that the BJP has given 33% reservation to women in legislative bodies.
BRS working president and Telangana industries minister K T Rama Rao rejected Modi’s comments and called it “blatant lies”.
“Are we bitten by mad dogs to join the NDA? In fact, many parties like Shiv Sena, Janata Dal (United), Telugu Desam Party, Shiromani Akali Dal and AIADMK have quit the NDA. Who else is there with you, except the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department?” KTR asked, reacting to the Prime Minister’s allegations.
Earlier in the day, Modi launched developmental projects and laid foundation stones for new projects worth ₹8,000 crore, such as the first 800 MW unit of phase-I of the Telangana Super Thermal Power Project of NTPC, a new railway line connecting Manoharabad and Siddipet and the electrification project between Dharmabad-Manoharabad and Mahabubnagar-Kurnool.
He flagged off the Siddipet-Secunderabad-Siddipet train service, benefiting local commuters in the region. Telangana has talent everywhere and the state made a vaccine for Covid-19 and gave it to the world, he said.