Siddipet: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would liberate Telangana state in his third term from “corrupt” Congress and BRS leaders and asked the people to give 12 seats to the party in the state.
Addressing a public meeting at Government Degree College in Siddipet town of Medak Lok Sabha constituency, a stronghold of BRS leader T. Harish Rao, Amit Shah said that the BJP would end the Muslim reservation provided by the BRS and Congress governments as it was eating into the reservation for the backward sections. He said the Modi government would provide the same reservations to the SC, ST, and OBC communities.
The BJP leader, who arrived two hours late, spoke hardly for 10 minutes, which disappointed an enthusiastic crowd, mostly comprising youths, who arrived in large numbers. Shah started his speech by expressing regret for forcing people to wait for long hours in the heat.
He accused the Congress and the BRS of being equally corrupt and charged that the Congress had allied with the BRS to hide its corruption.
Shah asked why the state Congress government was not investigating the scams that took place during the BRS regime, whether it was the Kaleshwaram scam or the land scam. The two parties were hand-in-glove in corruption, he said and asked voters to elect Modi to liberate Telangana state from corruption.
When Shah asked the people whether constructing a grand Lord Rama temple in Ayodhya was correct or wrong, they responded in the affirmative. He said that the Congress and the BRS had opposed its construction but Modi had done the Bhoomi Puja and constructed a grand temple in the shortest time.
Charging that the Congress and the BRS were afraid of the AIMIM and had never celebrated Telangana Liberation Day on September 17, Shah said the Modi government took a major decision to officially celebrate the liberation day of Telangana.
Shah said the Modi government had resolved many longstanding problems faced by the nation. The Kashmir valley was fully integrated with India forever after the abrogation of Article 370.
Instead of making a long speech, Shah resorted to the question-answer format on several issues. Shah was in such a hurry that he did not pause when the people were shouting pro-Modi slogans.
To attract the voters of backward classes, particularly the Mudiraj community, the organisers of the meeting had invited BJP leader Etala Rajender to take part in the meeting. Congress candidate Neelam Madhu hails from the Mudiraj community, the main rival to the BJP nominee M. Raghunandan Rao.
MRPS leaders extended support to the BJP candidate with their attendance as the Prime Minister had assured categorisation of the SC reservations.
A large number of women voters, mostly bidi workers who were expecting an increase in their pension to Rs 4,000 per month, turned up. A small number of Sahara shareholders sprang a surprise by raising placards at the end of the meeting, demanding that the Centre direct Sebi to pay back their amounts.
