PM's attack on KCR triggers war of words

Hyderabad, May 27 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attack on Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government has triggered a fresh war of words between the TRS and the BJP.

Hitting back at Modi, TRS leaders have questioned him about what the BJP has done for Telangana in the last eight years while the leaders of the saffron party have defended Modi.

After Modi launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during his address to BJP leaders and workers outside Begumpet Airport in the city during his brief visit to Hyderabad on Thursday, several ministers and TRS leaders hit back.

Dismissing Modi's allegations of family rule, the TRS leaders cited the instances of dynasty politics within BJP. They alleged that the Prime Minister spoke against KCR and TRS due to his bias and jealousy towards Telangana.

Minister for animal husbandry T. Srinivas Yadav said on Friday that Modi made baseless allegations as was unable to digest the tremendous progress Telangana has made under the TRS rule. "He is jealous because the schemes introduced and implemented in Telangana have become a role model for the entire country," he said.

Srinivas Yadav termed as ridiculous the allegations of Modi that TRS government changed the names of the central schemes.

Srinivas Yadav said the PM should introspect why chief ministers are not receiving him. He said that the PM knows nothing except doing drama, spewing venom wherever elections are due and doing fashion shows by changing 10 dresses every day.

Labour Minister Malla Reddy said that he prayed at Bhadrakali temple in Warangal to liberate India from BJP rule. He said he made a wish before the deity to make KCR the Prime Minister.

Alleging that BJP is destroying the country, he threw a challenge at the saffron party to implement Telangana's Dalit Bandhu scheme in the states ruled by it. "If Dalit Bandhu is implemented in BJP-ruled states, I will permanently retire from politics," he said.

TRS MLA Jeevan Reddy said Modi spews venom wherever he goes. He ridiculed Modi's promise to turn Telangana into an IT hub. "You scrapped the Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) project for Hyderabad and now you are talking about turning Telangana into an IT hub," he said.

Dismissing the allegations of family rule, Civil Supplies Minister Gangul Kamalakar said CM KCR's family actively participated in the Telangana movement. He said that every time the PM comes to Hyderabad he does nothing except criticize TRS and KCR. He warned BJP that their silence should not be construed as weakness.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy dismissed the criticism of Modi by TRS leaders. Reiterating the remarks made by the PM, he said family-centric parties were responsible for corruption in the country.

Kishan Reddy exuded confidence that a change will definitely come in Telangana. "People are conscious and they are watching everything," he said.

The BJP leader told reporters that TRS spent hundreds of crores in the Huzurabad by-election but people voted for the candidate they liked.

He denied that BJP leaders are promoting their families. He claimed that only BJP can claim that it is free from dynasty politics. He said nobody from J.P. Nadda's family will succeed him as BJP president and similarly nobody from PM Narendra Modi's family will become PM after him.

Kishan Reddy alleged that KCR went back on his promise to make a Dalit as the first Chief Minister of Telangana. He challenged TRS chief to announce now that the next chief minister will be a Dalit.