Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday said he was in touch with like minded parties at the national-level to fight the BJP and Congress in an effort to usher in a qualitative change in the lives of people.
“We are trying to identify the tools required to cobble up an alliance or consortium of parties, minus the BJP and the Congress,” he told a news conference here.
Asked if he will himself lead the parties that will come together ultimately, Mr. Rao said he will take the plunge putting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on notice. Personally, he said he had nothing against Mr. Modi but the slow pace of development under the latter’s leadership was “not digestible”.
Change needed
“I have all respect for him (Mr. Modi). I am his best friend. People hardly know what kind of friendship we have. But, qualitative change in politics in both regimes led by BJP and Congress had not taken place. Otherwise, why are there Naxalites and unrest in the country?” he asked.
He denied uttering a disrespectful word against Mr. Modi recently and warned the leaders of the BJP State unit that they were themselves running down their leader by attributing such a word to him.
Colloquial usage
He said he used the word to collectively target the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party when their members staged demonstrations in the Assembly.
It was part of colloquial language in Telangana which was commonly used.
Survey results
Asserting that the existing political system had miserably failed to deliver goods, Mr. Rao said the BJP and Congress were no different in administration. Only the names of schemes changed in their rule. A wonderful tax policy was never attempted by them.
Responding to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying that the national leadership of BJP will focus on Telangana henceforth, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said the party was most welcome but it was sure to be wiped out as it would not win a single seat in the next Assembly elections.
The Congress will not cross 10 seats. He said he based his conclusion on two surveys that he commissioned with 6.5 lakh samples. Both of them gave the same result.
