Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Within hours of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the chief of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, wanted to join the BJP-led NDA, his son and a minister in his cabinet KT Rama Rao said the BRS was “not mad enough” to join the alliance.
Mr Rao, who is the working president of the BRS, said his father would never want to work with the BJP.
Mr Modi had earlier claimed that KCR, who has in the past been a fierce critic of the BJP and the Prime Minister, wanted to join the National Democratic Alliance “but I refused him entry.” In dramatic fashion the Prime Minister declared Mr Rao, or KCR as he is known, and the BRS made multiple attempts to join the NDA. These were personally rebuffed, the PM told a cheering crowd. “I said, ‘we won’t cheat people of Telangana. After that his mind was rattled.”
Addressing a rally in Nizamabad, about 180 km from state capital Hyderabad, the PM – whose BJP won a solitary seat in the 2018 Telangana election and is without a government in South India – said his refusal angered and “changed” KCR, whom he also accused of corruption and nepotism.
“I am going to tell you a secret… 100 per cent truth,” the Prime Minister began, “When municipal elections happened (in 2020), nobody got a majority. BJP won 48 seats… KCR needed support.” “KCR showered me with love… gave me a shawl. This was not in KCR’s character. And then he asked me to include him in NDA. ‘You help us in Hyderabad municipality (election)’, he said,” the PM said. “I refused… told him we won’t cheat of people of Telangana,” the PM continued.
The 2020 Hyderabad civic poll was a significant step forward for the BJP, which had struggled for traction in the state till then. Of the 150 wards, KCR’s party won just 56 – down from 99 in the previous election. The BRS’ loss was the BJP’s gain, which upped its tally from four to 48. Eventually the BRS formed the city’s government after last-minute support from Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, which won 44 seats. The Congress flopped, winning just two wards.
“They (the BRS) got angry (after being refused entry to the NDA). But then he (KCR) came back… told me he now wants to give all responsibility to KTR (KT Rama Rao, his son). ‘I will send KTR, you please bless him’, KCR told me…” the Prime Minister claimed.
The PM then claimed he had severely scolded the Telangana leader. “I said, ‘KCR, this is democracy. Who are you to give KTR everything? Are you a king?’ After that he never came before me. He is unable to face me,” the Prime Minister declared, “No corrupt person can sit next to me.”
Relations between the PM and KCR exploded last year with the latter launching a series of personal attacks at the former. The southern party was, before then, seen as a reliable outside partner of the BJP government. But once the Telangana leader began eyeing a national role, the two butted heads.
In July, KCR had slammed Modi as the “weakest PM” India ever had and had termed the BJP as party of “traitors, demons and dictators.” Modi’s attack on Tuesday was the sharpest yet on KCR and his party. In his speech the PM also lashed out at the Congress, accusing them of an “understanding” with the BRS.
Barely an hour after Modi’s claims, Rama Rao without calling the prime minister a liar, said, “This Prime Minister is so inconsistent. On the one hand, he says BRS has funded Congress in Karnataka and then he says he has not allowed us into NDA. Have we been bitten by a rabid dog that we will go and join the NDA? So many parties are leaving your alliance. The Shiv Sena left you, the Janata Dal (United) left, and so did the Telugu Desam Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal,” the minister, who is also called KTR, said.
Taking a dig at the ruling alliance, he said, “Who is with you? Who do you have in the NDA except for the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department?”
