Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has continued its tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his remarks made against the Telangana Government and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during his Hyderabad visit on Thursday and suggested that the Premier make an introspection on Centre’s attitude towards non-BJP-ruled States.
Speaking separately, Ministers T. Srinivas Yadav and G. Kamalakar, MP B. Lingaiah Yadav, and legislators B. Suman, A. Jeevan Reddy, K. Chander, M.S. Prabhakar, K. Venkatesh and M. Gopinath pointed out here on Friday that Chief Ministers of several non-BJP ruled States were not welcoming the Prime Minister on visit to the State and it was time Mr. Modi made an introspection on it.
They stated that the tradition of keeping a Chief Minister away from the Prime Minister’s visit began with Mr. Modi’s Bharat Biotech visit here more than a year ago. They criticised the Prime Minister for raising the issue of family in politics and sought to know whether Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was devoid of such a practice.
Seeking to know what the BJP-led Government at the Centre did to Telangana during the last eight years, the TRS leaders asked why Kaleshwaram was not given national project status and why ITIR project was scrapped. On Mr. Modi’s allegation that the State Government was only implementing Centre’s scheme with its own names, the TRS leaders sought to know what was the Centre’s share in double-bedroom housing scheme for example.
They pointed out that it was the Centre that was copying several schemes of Telangana and stated that PM-KISAN and Har Ghar Jal schemes were copies of Rythu Bandhu and Mission Bhagiratha introduced by Telangana Government. Further, they accused the Centre of stipulating the condition of importing at least 10% of coal for indigenous coal-based power plants of Gencos only to help power plants of a corporate group.
On Mr. Modi’s talk of BJP coming to power in Telangana, the TRS leaders dared the BJP leadership to dissolve Lok Sabha and go for fresh polls with the assurance that they would speak to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to dissolve the Assembly to seek fresh mandate. They alleged that except for changing the robes 10 times a day and helping a few corporate groups, Mr. Modi did nothing for the country.
The TRS leaders alleged that the Centre and Mr. Modi were acting against the spirit of federal structure of the country and snatching the State’s powers enshrined in the Constitution. They said it was that BJP, not TRS, that had belief in superstitions as it did to garner votes in the recent Uttar Pradesh elections.
They also accused Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Revanth Reddy of dividing people caste-wise and suggested that BC, SC, ST, minorities in that party ponder over it.