Amit Shah in Hyderabad on Saturday. (AP)
BJP president Amit Shah kicked off the party’s poll campaign in Telangana on Saturday with a scathing attack on Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, accusing him of indulging in appeasement politics and superstition and turning away from ‘one nation one poll’.
Shah, who arrived at Begumpet airport in the afternoon, told mediapersons that the BJP would contest all seats in Telangana and emerge as a strong and decisive force in the state.
Questioning the CM for changing his stand on ‘one nation one election’, Shah said, “When PM Narendra Modi suggested one nation one election, KCR initially supported it, but to our surprise he changed his stand and forced a small state to bear the expense of two polls — Assembly and Lok Sabha. I want to ask the Telangana CM, why have you put such an expense on the people of the state? Why are elections elections being held nine months earlier, when they could have been held together next year? The BJP believes that only because of political selfishness and family politics, KCR and TRS has put the burden of two elections on people of Telangana.”
KCR had dissolved the Assembly on September 6 and sought a fresh mandate earlier than the scheduled polls of April 2019. He wants the Assembly elections to be held along with polls in Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram in December this year, rather than with the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Shah claimed the Telangana government had failed on every front — be it law and order or development. He also accused the TRS of vote bank politics and appeasement. “Is it not appeasement politics to propose 12 per cent reservation for minority? They know that our Constitution does not allow reservation based on religion. If the same government comes back to power, vote bank politics will continue,” he said. “KCR did not observe Hyderabad’s independence on September 17 due to pressure from AIMIM. There are many people in Telangana who fought for Telugu pride. This is an insult to that pride.”
The BJP chief asked, “What happened to KCR’s promise of giving a Dalit the CM’s position? Like all his promises, he has forgotten this promise too. Will Telangana finally get a Dalit CM in 2018?” He continued, “Due to his superstitious beliefs, he has not gone to the secretariat for four and a half years. I don’t think KCR is capable of leading the state in the 21st century.”
Shah further said, “Under the 13th Finance Commission, Telangana got Rs 16,597 crore, which increased to Rs 1,15,605 crore under the Modi government. BJP is committed to the development of Telangana.”
Speaking at a public meeting at Mahbubnagar, Ajay Bharat, Atal Bharat, later in the evening, Shah asked why the state should bear elections expenses twice. He also claimed SC, ST, BC quota would be cut to accommodate 12 per cent reservation for Muslims, which KCR has announced.