From the word go, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his election speech in Telangana on Tuesday embarked on a tirade against K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana, as well as the Congress, calling both of them family dynasties that have damaged the country and state. The PM called upon the people of Telangana to “punish” KCR over unfulfilled promises.
Addressing the Nizamabad crowd, Modi attacked KCR and the Congress, often clubbing them together for being family dynastic parties.“The CM was a Union Minister with the Congress-led UPA and was controlled by the madam (Sonia Gandhi) before becoming the CM of Telangana. The Congress is not against the TRS, they are playing a friendly match… both are family dynastic parties that play on vote bank politics and minority appeasement. From every aspect, they are two sides of the same coin,” he added.
Talking about the irony behind Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Telangana and calling the TRS party a family dynastic party, Modi said, “Now, Sonia came to Telangana and next to her was her son Rahul Gandhi. See the comedy, when the son sits next to her the mother, points finger at TRS and calls them a family party, I say, both are family dynastic parties.”
Claiming that the CM has not done enough for Nizamabad, Modi said KCR should go to London. “Before coming to power, the CM said he will make Nizamabad like London and a smart city but here the people don’t even have footpaths, water supply, roads or even electricity. I asked my pilot to take the helicopter for a spin around Nizamabad before landing here to see what work has been done. The CM has done enough, he should move to London for the next five years,” said the Prime Minister, who quipped, “The underground drainage work being carried out here, is it drainage work or is it damage work?”
“In Telangana, the people are struggling for water, and he (KCR) is still unable to get Godavari water to every home. KCR had said that he would not come seeking votes if he fails to deliver water. Should he not be punished? A person who can’t get water for you, should not be re-elected,” said Modi to the crowd that was chanting his name.
The PM then attacked the TRS government for not implementing the Ayushman Bharath scheme in Telangana.
The PM claimed that the scheme was designed to serve over 50 crore people and a Rs 5 lakh credit line from the central government for those in need was being extended. “In Telangana, the situation of the hospitals is dismal. It has been two months since the launch of the scheme and 3 lakh families have so far availed the scheme in India, which has saved their families. However, no one from Telangana got saved, because of the CM and his party. The CM is so insecure that he did not bring in the scheme as it has the PM’s name attached to it,” he said.
The PM added, “The BJP has only one mantra sabka saath, sabka vikas (collective efforts, inclusive growth) and not that of vote bank politics that has created roadblocks in the road to development. Whenever vote bank, minority appeasement and a family run the show, the development of the state stops.”
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Modi said the BJPs path to development is centred around education, healthcare, employment, farmer welfare and water supply.
The PM, while talking about the benefits of the central LPG scheme, said over 5 lakh families in Telangana and 600 crores from across the country have availed the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme so far.
Talking about household electricity connections, the PM said, “Even today, there are lakhs of families here who do not have electricity. About 4 lakh families were given power connection in Telangana, out of which 15,000 families were provided electricity in Nizamabad alone.”
The PM also touched upon the benefits of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), saying it has helped the Union save Rs 9,000 crore by removing 6 crore ghost beneficiaries.
The PM then reached out to the crowd with a question, “After coming to power did KCR destroy Telangana?,” to which his supporters at the meet screamed a “yes”.
“It’s because KCR’s apprenticeship was done in the Congress. He learnt everything from the Congress. Those who taught him (the Congress) have done PhD is doing damage,” responded the PM, who asked the public to vote for the BJP.
Modi will be giving another public speech at Mahbubnagar on Tuesday before heading back to Delhi. He is expected to hold a public meet in Hyderabad on December 3, before the state goes to polls on December 7.
Click here to follow TNM's coverage of the Telangana Assembly Elections 2018