As Modi visits Hyderabad today, KCR takes detour to Bengaluru
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 20th annual celebrations at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad on Thursday. However, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) will be in Bengaluru to meet JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda, and will reportedly skip meeting the prime minister. This is the second time in less than four months that KCR would do the same.
- KCR, who is eyeing a key role in national politics with the third front in mind, has been meeting chief ministers and prominent leaders of several states.
- KCR had hinted at floating a national party at the 20th formation day celebrations of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
- The political experts see his action as a symbol of protest against the Centre's apathy toward Telangana.
ISB had reportedly invited the CM to the event, however, KCR informed that he would not be able to attend because of his scheduled visit to another state. Earlier on February 5, KCR had avoided meeting the PM when the latter came to Telangana to unveil the 'Statue of Equality,' a statue of Saint Ramanujacharya near Hyderabad.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sharply criticized KCR for insulting PM Modi with the Telangana unit accusing him of 'running away' from the state to avoid meeting the PM, "as he was ashamed to show his face to Modi." BJP's OBC Morcha National President Dr. K Laxman said the TRS government had thrown to the wind the basic protocol to receive the PM.
Laxman said that the state BJP unit will felicitate PM Modi at the airport as they were informed that except for the chief secretary, no other minister would receive the PM. "This is not the system, but the CM acts that way," he said, adding that it was the duty of the CM to receive the PM irrespective of political and party affiliations.
KCR will call on Deve Gowda and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday. The next day, he will leave for Ralegan Siddhi to meet social activist Anna Hazare. He will also visit Shirdi Saibaba. On a four-day visit to Delhi and Chandigarh last week, the TRS chief met Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
KCR will soon visit West Bengal to meet Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Moreover, he is scheduled to meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav as well. KCR's visits are part of his tour to different states to discuss emerging political situation and the creation of an alternative development agenda for the country.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Hyderabad ahead of the PM's visit with the Telangana Police deploying around 2,500 police personnel, said a PTI report. The police also ordered that no-flying activities of remote-controlled drones, para-gliders, or remotely controlled micro-light aircraft be allowed over the area bound by a circle of a five-km radius from ISB in the Gachibowli area.
The event will be attended by around 900 students from ISB's Hyderabad and Mohali campuses. When asked about reports that police were collecting the details of ISB students as part of precautionary measures, they said, "We do background checks of all those people who will be in the proximity of the prime minister. Students and staff among others."
