The struggle for Telangana was not for just one family to rule using all possible tactics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday taking aim at state Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at a rally in Hyderabad. The country's youth are not getting a chance in politics because of dynastic parties, he said. The Chief Minister's party has hit back, saying that PM Modi "did not speak like the PM of the country, only the leader of the BJP".
On allegations of promoting dynastic politics, KCR's party spokesperson Krishank Manne said, "PM only spoke about parivarwaad. If that is the case, then who is Jay Shah (Union Home Minister Amit Shah's son) to lead cricket of India? They should expel Rajnath Singh and his son also if they do not believe in parivarwaad. Speak about Telangana?" Jay Shah is the Secretary of India's top cricket governing body Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and also the son of Home Minister Amit Shah.
KCR, too, responded sharply to the PM's remarks. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he dismissed the PM's attack as "bhashan bazi (high rhetoric)" and pointed to the state of India's economy.
"The situation is deteriorating day by day, but bhashans (speeches) are happening daily. GDP is falling, and inflation is increasing...The country should change, and the country will," he said while addressing the media after a meeting which is part of his nationwide tour to meet opposition leaders and consolidate an anti-BJP alternative.
Recalling that thousands of people had sacrificed their lives for the sake of a bright future for Telangana during the decades-long separate statehood agitation, PM Modi said the protest was not for one family to crush the dreams of Telangana's development. The state was carved out of the erstwhile unified Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
"The PM is saying this only because those who have participated in the Telangana movement have emerged victorious, like KCR," a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) spokesperson told NDTV.
"'Parivarwaadi' parties only think about their own development. These parties do not care about the poor people, their politics is focused on how a single-family can stay in power and loot as much as they can. They do not have any interest in the development of people," PM Modi said while addressing party workers.
He said family-based politics it's not just a political problem but the "biggest enemy of democracy" and the youth of our country. "Our country has seen how corruption becomes the face of those political parties dedicated to one family," he said.
Accusing the KCR-led government of corruption, he said the entire country is watching how the people are suffering. He also claimed that BJP workers are being politically targeted in the state.
These family-based parties are busy in appeasement politics and filling their own bank accounts, he said, while claiming that the BJP wants to transform Telangana into a technology hub.
PM Modi also took a swipe at the Telangana Chief Minister's 'superstitions'.
"I believe in science and technology. I also congratulate Yogi Adityanath, who is a saint but does not believe in superstition. The people of Telangana must beware of those whose superstitious beliefs come in the way of their administration," he said.
Notably, Telangana Chief Minister's son KT Rama Rao is a legislator from Sircilla and is the cabinet minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Urban Development. KCR's daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha served as MP from Nizamabad and currently serving as a Member of the Legislative Council, Nizamabad since 2020. KCR's nephew, Harish Rao, is an MLA for Siddipet and Telangana's cabinet minister for finance.
KCR avoided meeting with the PM for the second time in the last four months as he flew to Bengaluru on Thursday to call on former PM HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S). The Bengaluru visit is a part of his nationwide tour to discuss the national agenda for the upcoming presidential elections and the need to put up a united fight against the BJP.
On being asked why KCR was not present to welcome PM Modi in Hyderabad, the TRS spokesperson said, "the Chief Minister did not need to be there".
PM Modi is in Hyderabad today to attend an event at the Indian School of Business.
In February, KCR had skipped meeting PM Modi at the airport when he had visited Hyderabad to unveil the statue of equality at Muchintal. Mr Rao had cited health reasons.
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