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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Feb 05, 2022, 06:53 PM IST
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was conspicuously absent during the reception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport here on Saturday, February 5. The absence of the CM at the airport irked the saffron party, which said CM Rao had failed to follow the protocol and insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PM Modi had arrived in Telangana to dedicate the nation with the 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th-century Bhakti saint Sri Ramanujacharya and also to kickstart the 50th-anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT.
Telangana: PM Narendra Modi kickstarts the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/TV1SE3fo89 — ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were among the VIPs who received Modi at the airport. Sources at Pragati Bhavan, Rao's official residence told PTI that the Chief Minister was not well as he had a fever.
A communication from the CMO had said Talasani Srinivas Yadav is nominated as the Minister-in-Waiting to receive and see off the Prime Minister during the latter's visit to the city today.
BJP Telangana leaders welcome PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji at Shamshabad Airport. pic.twitter.com/HY7hbtewXv
— BJP Telangana (@BJP4Telangana) February 5, 2022
Meanwhile, Telangana BJP President Bandi Sanjay Kumar took strong exception to Rao's absence at the airport, saying it was shameful on the part of the CM for playing truant to Modi's trip by citing lame excuses.
Kumar said, "It is very much evident that the chief minister does not want to show his face to the Prime Minister, as the entire country was abhorring his filthy abuses hurled at the latter." He further questioned Rao, "Mr KCR, Is this your culture? You claim to have read 80,000 books. Is it what you have learnt from them??," he asked.
Noting that insulting the Prime Minister amounted to insulting the entire nation, Sanjay Kumar said Rao was obviously afraid of facing Modi after hurling so many abuses. His behaviour was an affront to the nation, he slammed.
Describing the Union Budget 2022-23 as a 'golmaal budget' that disappointed farmers, workers and common people, Rao had recently claimed that it was a betrayal against the people.
