Actor and MP Hemamalini will be joining a galaxy of star campaigners for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana in the next few days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah, all the top Central Ministers, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, among others are also slated to take up campaign for the party candidates, said former Union Minister and senior leader Bandaru Dattatreya on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference at the party office, he said that about 20 Central ministers and 40 other star campaigners will be covering all the 119 constituencies in support of the declared candidates. Accusing the TRS ministers K.T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao of trying to rake up the ‘Telangana sentiment’ to cover up for the failures of their government, he said the ruling party had taken up irrigation projects like the Congress only for making money. If his party is voted to power, linking of rivers will be part of the prime agenda like the Krishna and Godavari, he explained. Construction of nine barrages on the Godavari river has been promised in the party manifesto which is awaiting clearance from the Central leadership. Free cycles to school students and scooterettes to college students, hiking subsidy for sheep rearing farmers to ₹50,000, jobs for the families of the martyrs, crop insurance for farmers, etc., have been included, he explained.
The BJP leader was not appreciative of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) leader M. Kodandaram joining hands with the Congress party to form the grand alliance as it was an insult to the martyrs’ families.
Meanwhile, Central Election Committee secretary and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Sunday morning released another 19 names in the fifth list.
Prominent among them is former TRS MLA B. Shobha getting the nod for Choppadandi Assembly constituency.
Other candidates declared are: Aruna Thara (Jukkal), Naidu Prakash (Banswada), R. Rajeshwar (Balkonda), R. Sanat Kumar (Manthani), A. Sriramulu Yadav (Maheshwaram), R. Sai Krishna (Vikarabad), Madhusudan Yadav (Jadcherla), Sudhakar Rao (Kollapur), J. Gopi (Devarakonda), K. Prabhakar (Miryalguda). B. Bhagya Reddy (Huzurnagar), J. Venkateshwar Rao (Kodad), K. Ramachandraiah (Thungathurthy), K.V.L.N. Reddy (Jangoan), G. Laxmi Naik (Dornakal), K. Satish (Warangal East), B. Devilal (Mulug) and B. Prabhakar Reddy (Kothagudem).