Hyderabad: Caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “blatantly lying” and contradicted him about there being no power in Nizamabad. He challenged the PM to stay in Nizamabad while he heli-hopped there for a face to face on the development of the state.
Mr Rao got prickly about the PM’s allegations at his Nizamabad public meeting that the CM had promised to make Nizamabad like London, but “there is no power, road or water” in the district.
The Chief Minister ticked him off, saying, “Mr. Prime Minister there is no power problem in Nizamabad, don’t lie just for the sake of votes.”
While addressing the public meeting at Mahbubnagar Mr. Rao “It is incorrect. You are blatantly lying. You said there was no power; I challenge you to prove it. You are the Prime Minister of a nation. You cannot make such wild allegations against a Chief Minister.”
“The Central Electricity Authority that works under you declared that Telangana is number one in the country in per capita power consumption.”
Mr Rao, who has by and large ignored cracks about his rituals and superstitions, was stung when the PM said he was paying more attention to ‘pujas and yagnas’. He said it was his personal choice and that he was a believer and Modi could also “come and take teertham after his puja”.
He said, “I am not afraid of Modi. I am not Chandrababu Naidu to be afraid of Modi. Modi is spreading lies in Telangana. Speak responsibly as a PM.”
Referring to the criticism of BJP chief Amit Shah against the TRS government, Mr Rao said that he would resign if he failed to prove the allegations of the BJP president.
Mr Rao said, “I am confused. On one side, the Congress is alleging that the TRS and BJP are two sides of a coin and on other side, Modi is now linking the TRS with the Congress.”
