Have We Been Bitten By Mad Dog: KTR’s Retort On PM Modi’s KCR Wanted To Join NDA Remark

HYDERABAD: Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) wanted to be part of NDA but was refused, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Tuesday said that BJP has lost important allies and it only has “CBI, ED and I-T”. Soon after PM Modi’s hard-hitting attack at KCR and ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi at a rally in Nizamabad, KT Rama Rao (KTR), who is son of the Chief Minister, interacted with the media and said cases against leaders who joined the BJP are not being investigated.

He asked if BRS leaders have been bitten “by a mad dog” that they will join the BJP-led NDA. “…This PM is so inconsistent, he says that BRS funded Congress in Karnataka and that he has not allowed us in NDA. Have we been bitten by a mad dog that we will join NDA? Today many parties including Shiv Sena, JD(U), TDP, and Shiromani Akali Dal have left BJP…Who is with you? Who do you have except CBI, ED and I-T,” the Telangana minister said.

KTR also referred to PM Modi’s comments that KCR wanted him to be his successor. KTR said that the choice of the BRS leader will be made by the party MLAs and BRS does not need a “no objection certificate” from the Prime Minister. The BRS leader threw up a challenge and said BJP lost its deposit in 105 assembly seats in 2018 election and “the number will go up to 110 in this election”.

He also said that “tourists can come” but BRS led by KCR will get a third term in office. “BJP will also not win any Lok Sabha seat from the state,” he said. Earlier in the day, PM Modi said that the Telangana Chief Minister wanted to join NDA to seek BJP’s support after Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections but he refused the offer due to “deeds” of the ruling dispensation. Addressing a rally in Nizamabad, PM Modi told the gathering that he is going to tell a secret he has not spoken so far.

“When BJP won 48 seats in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, KCR needed support. Before this election, he used to welcome me at the airport, but later suddenly he stopped doing so,”  the Prime Minister said. “KCR came to meet me in Delhi…he started telling me that the country is progressing under your leadership, and said that he wanted to join NDA. He also asked me to extend support to him. I told him (KCR) that due to his deeds Modi cannot associate with him,” he added.

The Prime Minister said the BJP cannot deceive the people of Telangana.  NDA is led by the BJP. “I refused (him) entry to NDA,” PM Modi said. He said that the 48 seats won by the BJP in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections in December 2020 are “start of the process to change the fate of Telangana”.

The Prime Minister said that K Chandrashekar Rao again approached him and told him that he is going to hand over all “karobar” to his son KT Rama Rao (KTR) and “sought my blessings”. The Prime Minister said he told KCR that it is a democracy and his successor will be decided by the people of Telangana.

“Are you a king who will decide?” the Prime Minister asked. Referring to KCR not coming to his functions, PM Modi said that the “corrupt” cannot sit in his company and “are running (away)”. PM Modi said if BJP comes to power, it will “expose corruption” of the BRS government. Telangana is among five states that will go for polls later this year.