Hyderabad: BJP national President J.P. Nadda said on Friday that calling Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls a ‘gully election’ is a disrespect to the people of Hyderabad.
He hit back at the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for criticising him for campaigning in GHMC polls.
“I was astonished when it was said that the president of a national party is coming for gully election. This is disrespect to the electorate of Hyderabad. A city which has over 74 lakh voters, five Lok Sabha seats, 24 Assembly seats and more than 1 crore people looks like gully to you? We will go everywhere to destroy your corruption,” he said while addressing a meeting of intellectuals organised by the BJP as part of the GHMC election campaign.
Nadda flayed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for ‘family politics”. “It’s all about me, my family and my friend,” he remarked.
He also slammed the TRS chief for his friendship with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM). “Remember razakars and what they have done from August 15, 1947 to September 17, 1948. What was the situation then? Whom you have embraced now? How can you stoop to this level for power? There should be some element of morality,” he said.
Referring to Chandrasekhar Rao’s plans to bring the anti-BJP parties together, Nadda said the CM would be bringing together family parties. They are the feathers of the same bird, he remarked.
Claiming that BJP is the only party serving the people, he thanked the people of the Dubbak constituency in Telangana for handing victory to the BJP in the recent by-election.
He pointed out that the vote share of BJP in Telangana in 2014 general elections was 10.5 per cent and it went up to 23.5 per cent in 2019 when it won four Lok Sabha seats. “Remember, BJP defeated KCR’s daughter by over 70,000 votes,” he said, adding that the BJP’s vote share in Dubbak has gone up to 38.47 per cent.
Referring to BJP’s victory in Bihar elections and in the by-elections in various states, he said this was because of the development agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He claimed that people are coming forward to support to the BJP because of the good work done by Modi.
“This is because of change in working culture and style of functioning. Modiji has redefined politics,” he said.
The BJP President said that Modi led the country from the front in tackling Covid-19 with timely lockdown and several important decisions.
He listed out the steps taken by the government to improve the testing and treatment infrastructure and manufacturing of PPE kits.
He said the steps taken by the Modi government earned appreciation from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations.
Nadda also listed out the steps taken by the Centre for helping the poor, women and differently abled during the lockdown and the packages announced for various sectors under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission.
He also criticised KCR for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Telangana. He alleged that the Chief Minister has deprived 26 lakh families of Rs 5 lakh annual health cover.
He said the Centre spent Rs 1,028 crore to build the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bibinagar and called it a gift from the Prime Minister to the people of Telangana.
Nadda said efforts are being made to set up a Sainik School and new schemes have been launched for Hyderabad, including expansion of the Metro network.