Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “our ‘Brahmastra” and the party sensed ‘positive vibes’ from the people of Telangana towards the welfare measures of the Central government, therefore it was going alone in the elections without any alliances, said Bharatiya Janata Party’s Telangana president K. Laxman on Wednesday.
“People are looking for a change and a new face. We believe we are the alternative due to disenchantment with the present government. When we can win in Tripura without having even two % vote and a single MLA, we can do it here too,” he asserted, interacting with presspersons as a prelude to his proposed State wide ‘Jana Chaitanya Yatra’ to cover 20 districts in the first phase starting from June 23.
To persistent questions queries about relationship with the TRS, he exclaimed: “Our national president Amit Shah has made it very clear we are going alone. He is my boss and we will toe the party line. I am not authorised to talk about any post-poll alignments.”
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is being too clever by half by “causing a confusion as if he is close to the Centre but we have our own game plan,” he said. Two public meetings a day interspersed with youth rallies and mass contact programmes will mark the tour in which all top State leaders are expected to participate while Mr. Shah himself is expected to confabulate with partymen on July 7 to strategise.
KCR has been has been showcasing Centre’s schemes as if it was the State’s initiative but people were clever enough to see through the game. “From KCR kits, subsidised rice and others, the Centre has been contributing substantially. We have identified five schemes like MGNREGA, gas connections and toilets under Swachh Bharat, among others. Every village got between ₹80 lakh and 1.5 crore and this is being told to villagers,” he said.
Keeping aside his poll promises of land to Dalits, two-bedroom houses, job for every household, the CM has been coming out with populist schemes to lure voters. BJP was not against Rythu Bandhu but wanted it to be better targetted towards “real farmers” and it should be extended to tenant farmers and tribals involved in ‘podu’ cultivation.