Even as the BJP began its biggest national executive meet in 18 years in Hyderabad on Saturday, July 2, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) hosted opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha, who was in Hyderabad to campaign. Sinha was received by CM KCR and IT Minister K Taraka Ramarao (KTR) along with several other TRS leaders at Begumpet airport. The leaders were escorted into the city with a massive bike rally from the Begumpet airport to People's Plaza at Necklace Road, where KCR addressed the gathering in Hindi, in a bid to appeal to a national audience.
TRS has expressed its support to Sinha, who is supported by opposition parties including the Congress, with whom the TRS wants to maintain an equal distance. In his speech on Saturday, KCR seems to have used the event meant to support Yashwanth Sinha, to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who also reached Hyderabad on Saturday — and the BJP. This was the third consecutive time that CM KCR did not receive the Prime Minister during his visits to the city.
KCR came down heavily on PM Modi and accused him of failing the country in various fields. KCR alleged that the PM’s promises like demonetisation have been failures, adding that black money in the country has increased since then. "You have made several promises before winning, we want to know if even one of them was fulfilled,” KCR said.
Referring to the recent allegations that the PM “pressured” Gotabaya Rajapaksa to sign a power project over to the Adani group, KCR accused PM Modi of “bringing a bad name” to India, adding that PM Modi acted as a salesman rather than a Prime Minister. Further, he said that during the agitations against the three contentious farm laws in 2021, KCR said that the protesting farmers were labelled as “terrorists” and “traitors” by the ruling BJP.
The massive bike rally from begumpet airport to Necklace Road
Ahead of the national executive meet in Hyderabad, a few BJP leaders including Tamil Nadu party chief and Telangana MP K Laxman warned of a Maharashtra-like political scenario in Telangana. In his speech, KCR said, "So far, you (BJP) have collapsed nine governments, this is on your record. Where are we heading to? India is going through its worst in every way," and accused PM Modi of harassing his critics and misusing constitutional bodies.
The occurrence of two major political events in Telangana has increased tensions between the two parties in Hyderabad. The TRS and BJP have begun engaging in turf wars and occupy public spaces in Hyderabad.
Read more about it here: From TRS doom clock to Money Heist meme mocking PM, party turf wars heat up Telangana