Appealing to the Telangana voters to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state Assembly elections, Union Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, October 10, said that Telangana needs a ‘double-engine sarkar,’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi wielding power “both above and below” (in the Union government and state government). The BJP regularly uses the metaphor of ‘double-engine sarkar’ or ‘two-engine government’ to suggest that there are benefits to having a BJP government in the state and at the Union government simultaneously – a concept often criticised for undermining federalism and also for being ineffective, as in the case of the Manipur crisis.
“Telangana needs a double-engine government, which would mean ‘neeche bhi Modi, upar bhi Modi’,” said Amit Shah at the Jana Garjana Sabha in Adilabad. Invoking revered tribal leader Komaram Bheem, who hailed from the Gond community in Adilabad, a district dominated by Adivasis, Amit Shah said that he fought the oppression of both the British and Nizam rule. If BJP is voted into power, September 17 will be celebrated as Hyderabad Liberation Day in every district of Telangana, he said.
Read: Who were Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, the real-life heroes shown in RRR?.
On September 17, 1948, the Indian Union led by then Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Patel annexed Hyderabad state through police action (dubbed 'Operation Polo’) and wrested power from Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of the princely state. The BJP is accused of trying to advance a communal narrative by demanding that it must be celebrated as ‘Liberation Day’. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (TRS), however, recognises it as ‘Telangana National Integration Day’, rejecting the BJP’s demand as ‘divisive’. Thousands of Muslims were killed in ‘Operation Polo’, and the previous governments in united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had avoided official celebrations around it fearing communal violence.
Also read: There is more to Hyderabad state’s history than BJP’s 'Liberation Day' narrative
Read: Hyd Liberation or Telangana National Integration? The politics around September 17
Amit Shah invoked PM Modi’s recent announcements of setting up a Central Tribal University and National Turmeric Board in Telangana, while claiming that the BRS had failed to fulfil its promises made to the people of Telangana. He said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not work for the welfare of farmers, Dalits, Adivasis and the poor. “All he wants is to make [his son] KT Rama Rao the next CM,” Shah said.
He also credited Modi for the Union Cabinet recently approving the issue of further Terms of Reference to the existing Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) regarding the river water sharing issue between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, based on a request from Telangana.
Shah also highlighted the BJP government’s achievements of passing the Women’s Reservation Bill, the election of Droupadi Murmu as India’s first tribal President, the abrogation of Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing, and the recently held G20 summit.
The Union Home Minister concluded his speech by alleging that BRS’s ‘car’ (the party’s election symbol) has handed its steering over to Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). BJP often targets BRS for its “friendly” relationship with the AIMIM. While the BRS and AIMIM are not in a formal alliance, the two parties are amicable with each other. “The steering to KCR’s car is in Owaisi’s hand. Do you want Telangana to run on Majlis’s cues?” Amit Shah asked.
He also alleged that KCR had failed to keep his promise of land distribution to Dalits and that the Dalit Bandhu financial assistance scheme was only reaching BRS cadres. “KCR is only concerned about his son’s welfare,” Amit Shah alleged.
