Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday kicked off the election campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and held a grand roadshow in Mahabubnagar. The PM also addressed a public rally in Mahabubnagar.
In his speech, the prime minister announced a Rs 900 crore university project in Telangana, which is likey to go to polls later this year.
“The Indian government will establish a central tribal university in Mulugu. It will be named after respectable Adivasi women Sammakka-Sarakka. Rs 900 crores will be spent on it. I thank the people of Telangana for their love. I am in a government programme right now, so I have kept myself limited to it. After 10 minutes, I will be out in the open. I will speak openly there,” said PM Modi during the rally.
The prime minister also gave credit to the people of Telangana for strengthening the BJP in the state and said that the southern state was looking for a change.
“In recent years, people of Telangana have strengthened BJP in Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and civic elections. The huge crowd gathered here proves that Telangana wants change. Telangana wants change because it wants a transparent and corruption-free government, not false promises. Telangana now wants BJP government,” PM Modi added.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao skipped PM Modi’s programme in the state and his minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Talasani Srinivas Yadav received the Prime Minister upon his arrival. Yadav was the one who participated in PM’s official programmes as well.
Union Tourism Minister and Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy on Saturday slammed CM KCR, who, according to him, is avoiding the Prime Minister’s programmes with regard to various development activities.
PM’s Telangana Programme
Meanwhile, earlier on Saturday, in a message posted on his social media platform X ( formerly Twitter), PM Modi said the people of Telangana are tired of lacklustre governance and equally distrustful of Congress.
Before the rally, Modi virtually laid the foundation stone and launched several developmental projects worth more than Rs 13,500 crore, in important sectors such as road, rail, petroleum and natural gas, and higher education.
PM Modi Announces Establishment of National Turmeric Board
While addressing the people at Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Centre’s decision to establish a National Turmeric Board. He said that India is a prime producer, consumer and exporter of Turmeric and that the farmers of Telangana produce turmeric in huge quantities. The decision to establish the turmeric board was taken after looking at the necessity and the future opportunities of Turmeric farmers.
In another big announcement, PM Modi said that a Central Tribal University will be set up in Telangana’s Mulugu and will be named after respectable Adivasi women Sammakka-Sarakka. Modi also said that an amount of Rs. 900 crores will be spent on building the university.
Modi is also scheduled to address a public meeting and launch projects in Nizamabad on October 3.
The PM’s visits assume political significance as the state is getting ready to go for assembly polls, which are likely to be held in November-December.
A team of “top officials” from the Election Commission of India is scheduled to visit Telangana on October 3 to assess the poll preparedness and engage with various stakeholders.
Meanwhile, Union Tourism Minister and Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy on Saturday slammed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who, according to him, is avoiding the Prime Minister’s programmes with regard to various development activities.
