Telangana leaders make their mark in Gujarat

HYDERABAD: Leaders from Telangana are actively taking part in the ongoing election campaign in Gujarat over the past few days, with the state set to go for polls in two phases, on December 1 and 5.

Leaders from the state Congress and BJP and the AIMIM made their presence known, with the AIMIM especially showing its impact across 17 Assembly constituencies.

Political sources said that leaders from across the country are getting involved due to two reasons — Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Aam Aadmi Party making its foray into the state.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr K. Laxman, a BJP Parliamentary Board member and OBC Morcha president, said Telangana leaders took part in campaigns at Jamnagar and Dwarka, among other areas of Gujarat.

“BJP will get more votes and seats in the ensuing Assembly elections,” he said, citing the results of the last Assembly elections, wherein BJP won 99 seats.

“Now, we will beat our record, he said. Telugu people from MP post to municipal corporator posts are in Gujarat. People of Gujarat are wise and they will not believe in freebies offered by AAP,” he said.

BJP’s Tamil Nadu state incharge Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Telangana state Mahila Morcha president Geeta Murthy, former TPCC working president Kusum Kumar and AICC secretary S.A. Sampath Kumar are among leaders from other states camping in Gujarat.

Kusum Kumar, incharge for the Ahmedabad West Parliamentary constituency, claimed that Gujarat voters realised that Prime Minister was “a joota (false) person”.

“Maninagar Assembly constituency, which has been represented by Modi for a long time, still lacks basic road facility. There is a silent revolution in Gujarat elections and Congress will come to power,” he said.

The AIMIM is meanwhile also contesting the polls in 17 Muslim-dominated constituencies. While the TRS had considered contesting the polls under the Bharat Rashtra Samiti head, it later went silent.