Launching another attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana cabinet minister and TRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Wednesday, February 9, said the slogan "Beti bachao Beti padhao" has turned into "Beti darao Beti dhamkao" under BJP rule. Lashing out at the BJP over the Hijab row in Karnataka, he said girls going to educational institutions were being threatened and the young minds were being poisoned in the name of religion. "Is this the new India you want to build?" he asked the BJP.
The minister was addressing a public meeting after inauguration of various development works at Adibatla on the outskirts of Hyderabad. "See what is happening in neighbouring Karnataka. Girls going to schools and colleges are being threatened. A divide has been created among students in the name of religion and the educational institutions are closed for three days," he said.
KTR, as the minister is popularly known, was referring to incidents of Muslim girls wearing hijabs being heckled at some colleges in Karnataka. He said the country was being run as per the Constitution of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that Modi had taken control of all institutions including Governors and the Election Commission. He pointed out how relations between the Governor and the Chief Minister in West Bengal were strained.
KTR reiterated the demand that Modi apologise to the people of Telangana for insulting the Telangana movement through his remarks in Parliament on Tuesday. He recalled that Modi had made similar comments soon after the formation of Telangana state. The TRS leader alleged that the Prime Minister was unable to digest the fact that Telangana was racing ahead on the path of development through its innovative schemes and projects with no help from the Union government.
The ruling TRS party in Telangana on Wednesday held protests across the state against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks made in the Rajya Sabha on the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and the creation of Telangana State. Ministers and partymen wearing black badges and holding black balloons participated in the protest at several places to seek an apology from Modi.
Replying to the motion of thanks to the President's address, Modi in the Rajya Sabha hit out at Congress and said Telangana was created with the doors of Parliament closed without any discussion. Stating that BJP is not opposed to Telangana, Modi said the NDA government headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee had created three states without any problem. Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali and Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav held protests in Hyderabad condemning Modi's remarks.
With IANS and PTI inputs