hyderabad
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Saturday termed the words of respect for former Prime Minister the late P.V. Narasimha Rao from the Gandhi family as “heights of hypocrisy” since it is an open secret that he was insulted by that family both when he was alive and after his death. It was the BRS that gave him the due respect, the party said.
Reacting to the comments of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Friday that it was Mr. Narasimha Rao who protected them after the death of her father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, BRS leader G. Vijayalaxmi, Mayor of GHMC, and MLC Surabhi Vani Devi, a daughter of Mr. Narasimha Rao, sought to know why Mr. Narasimha Rao was not cremated in New Delhi and why his body was not allowed to be taken to the AICC headquarters. She also sought to know why the Gandhi family did not attend the funeral of Mr. Narasimha Rao in Hyderabad.
The people of Telangana were not so naive to believe the Gandhi family’s comments on Mr. Narasimha Rao during the poll time, Ms. Vijayalaxmi said, recalling that Mr. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister for a five-year term and the AICC president for six years.
Further, the BRS leader said Mr. Narasimha Rao was even denied ticket to contest in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections and demanded to know why the Congress, which would often go on about indiramma rajyam, was not talking about the transformation of the country after the introduction of economic liberalisation by Mr. Narasimha Rao.
It was the BRS government that officially organised the centenary celebrations of Mr. Narasimha Rao here and installed a huge statue on the Necklace Road. The Assembly also adopted a resolution seeking Bharat Ratna for Mr. Narasimha Rao, Ms. Vijayalaxmi said, adding that Ms. Priyanka Gandhi’s words were nothing but crocodile tears.