PM Modi 'dresses for elections': Telangana CM KCR
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday unleashed a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the latter "dresses for elections." The CM also criticized the Union Budget 2022--presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday--calling it "terrible and Golmaal (chaotic)." "Upar Shervani, Andar Pareshani (all style, no substance)," KCR said, mocking the Budget.
- Rao's attack on Modi comes days ahead of their meeting for a mega event in Telangana.
- The leaders are scheduled to share a helicopter ride on Saturday when they travel to the outskirts of Hyderabad for the launch of a statue of Saint Ramanujacharya.
- The statue is said to be the world's second tallest and built at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore.
Attacking Modi over his dressing, KCR said, "If it is election time, he has to grow a beard and appear like Rabindranath Tagore...If it is Tamil Nadu, he must wear a lungi." "If it is Punjab election, he will wear a Pagdi (turban)...In Manipur, it will be a Manipuri cap," he quipped. "What does the country get with these kinds of gimmicks," KCR asked.
"With social media management, lying blatantly, repeating a lie, again and again, they managed to fool the people so far. But now they have been exposed. They play communal politics of hate and division," KCR added.
When NDTV asked KCR whether his trip with PM would be "awkward" after his comments, he maintained that it's a "routine thing, a protocol requirement." "Sharing (a dais or a chopper ride) isn't the question at all," he said, adding that attacking Modi in politics is his policy. "Even while sitting along with Modi in his helicopter, I will tell him the same thing."
Notably, KCR's Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has mostly backed the Modi government on key legislations in Parliament. However, his recent activities to bring opposition forces together as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress likely add to the unease. He has already consulted with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in this regard.
KCR is also scheduled to meet his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray soon in his effort for Opposition unity. "There's a need for qualitative change in the nation," Rao told reporters on his meeting with Uddhav Thackeray.
"Now is the time to throw the BJP into the Bay of Bengal. I appeal to people, change is needed," KCR said. "Indians have to awaken. These people who create communal disturbances, this needs to change." However, he maintained that he isn't fighting to become Prime Minister. "In the coming days, we will work for the country...In what role, I am not sure yet."
KCR also emphasized that there is a need for debate to change the Indian constitution. "Many countries do this every once in a while. Both the Congress and the BJP have not respected cooperative federalism. We need to rethink what is right for us."
