Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3 claimed that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) wanted to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections in 2020 but he (Modi) did not let him.
Speaking during a rally in poll-bound Telangana, Modi said, “When BJP won 48 seats in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, KCR needed support. Before this election, he used to welcome me at the airport, but later suddenly he stopped doing so.”
Modi’s claim has been met with skepticism by KCR, who has denied it outright. KCR has said that he has never had any interest in joining the NDA and that Modi is lying to the people of Telangana.
KCR’s party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), has dismissed Prime Minister Modi’s assertion, calling it a “blatant lie.”
“After the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, KCR came to meet me in Delhi and said that he wanted to join NDA. He also asked me to extend support to him. I told him (KCR) that due to his deeds Modi cannot be associated with him,” Modi added.
The PM added that he declined KCR’s offer telling him, “I could never align with you because of your deeds and I can never betray the people of Telangana even if that means sitting in the opposition in the MC.”
The PM said it was after this episode that KCR was rattled and he began distancing himself.
“Then KCR came to me once more and said he had decided to pass the Telangana baton to his son. I warned him against this approach and told him we are a democracy and not a monarchy. In a democracy, people decide who will hold power,” Modi said to a receptive crowd.
KCR’s BRS came 21 seats shy of a majority in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in 2020. The BJP won 48 of the 150 seats in the civic election, outperforming its previous record in 2015.
BRS spokesperson M Krishank said that the Prime Minister could “stoop to any low level with lies for political benefits”.
“Next time a Chief Minister visits the Prime Minister, he should take a camera because Narendra Modi can stoop to any low level with lies for political benefits,” the BRS leader said.
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao also reacted to PM Modi’s statement and said, “…This PM is so inconsistent, he says that BRS funded Congress in Karnataka and that he has not allowed us in NDA. Have we been bitten by a mad dog that we will join NDA? Today many parties including Shiv Sena, JD(U), TDP, Shiromani Akali Dal have left BJP…Who is with you? Who do you have except CBI, ED and I-T.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the KCR-led government in Telangana at a rally in Nizamabad, saying it had betrayed all of its commitments to farmers. He told Nizamabad’s turmeric growers that their product would be promoted and that a National Turmeric Board would be constituted.
“The BRS government has broken all their promises made to the farmers of Telangana. But in the last few years, we transferred around Rs 10,000 crores into the bank accounts of 40 lakh farmers. Under the ‘One District, One Product scheme’, Turmeric produced in the Nizamabad district is being promoted. As per our promises to the turmeric farmers, the National Turmeric Board will be formed,” he said.
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