Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Telangana tour is creating heavy buzz amid state assembly elections. PM Modi will address the party’s ‘BC Atma Gourava Sabha’ in LB Stadium, Hyderabad on November 7 (Tuesday), and a public meeting on November 11 to highlight the demand for the categorization of reservations for Scheduled Castes communities.
PM Modi addressed public meetings in Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad in the state on October 1 and 3. Sources said the PM could address a third meeting, either in Gajwel or Kamareddy, where Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is contesting, or Mahbubnagar or Medak. The date is being chosen with an eye on the Rajasthan polling date of November 23.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, addressing a poll rally in Telangana recently, had said the BJP would make a Backward Class (BC) leader as Chief Minister of Telangana if the saffron party was voted to power after the November 30 assembly polls in the state. In continuation to the “BC Chief Minister” slogan of the party, BJP has organized “BC Atma Gourava Sabha” in Hyderabad.
BJP OBC Morcha president Dr K. Laxman said, "The BC Atma Gourava Sabha is aimed at reiterating our commitment to make a Backward Classes community candidate as Chief Minister."
He also said: "No other party in the state can dare make a statement on similar lines. The announcement has impeded our campaign and BCs are extending support to our candidates. The Congress has been unable to digest the statement made by Amit Shah."
"The Union Cabinet led by Modi has 25 OBC ministers for the first time after independence. It has 12 from the SC communities, eight from the ST groups. Together with 11 women and five minorities’ ministers, it accounts for 70 per cent of the ministers," he said.
After 9 years, Pawan Kalyan will join Modi’s meeting:
Meanwhile, after a gap of nine years, Tollywood actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) President Pawan Kalyan will share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Tuesday. Pawan Kalyan will join Modi in addressing ‘BC Atma Gourava’ Sabha in Hyderabad. The JSP leader said BJP Telangana state President G Kishan Reddy invited him to attend the public meeting and he has accepted the invitation.
Jana Sena, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, has decided to contest the Telangana Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP. Leaders of the two parties said the seat sharing talks between them are in the final stage.
After a gap of eight years, Pawan Kalyan had met the Prime Minister in November last year during the latter’s visit to Visakhapatnam. After the meeting, he had hoped that this meeting would bring good days for Andhra Pradesh in future.
Pawan Kalyan announced recently that his party would contest the 2024 elections in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The BJP is yet to respond to his proposal to join them to avoid a split of anti-YSRCP votes.
Pawan Kalyan had backed the TDP-BJP alliance in the 2014 elections to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha. Jana Sena had not contested the polls but the actor had campaigned for the alliance and addressed a few public meetings along with Narendra Modi and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu.
Jana Sena had later parted ways with both BJP and TDP for not granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh as committed at the time of bifurcation of the state in 2014. In 2019, Pawan Kalyan’s party had contested the elections in alliance with the Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but the party could win just one seat in the 175-member Assembly in AP, party chief Pawan himself loses in both the seats he contested.
