PM Modi's visit raises political heat in Telangana

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brisk visit to Hyderabad to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 11,300 crore in Telangana besides flagging off the Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat Express here on Saturday has taken political colour and has become saffron v/s pink tussle.

While Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to skip the participation in the official programmes to be attended by the Prime Minister as chief guest during his visit to the city, a war of words had broken out between the BRS and the BJP.

BRS leader Boinapalli Vinod Kumar has alleged that Modi has been a 'narrow-minded' person and the BJP had planned to create law and order problem in Telangana to destabilise the KCR government.

The ruling BRS has also given a call for protests on Saturday across the state opposing the alleged bid to privatise Singareni Collieries.

On the other hand, IT Minister K T Rama Rao shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking him to revise the CRPF recruitment notification to include regional languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, etc, to facilitate those who are not acquainted with Hindi or English.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the MMTS project was getting delayed because of the non-cooperation of the state government. State BJP in-charge Tarun Chugh compared the KCR Cabinet with a gang of 40 thieves.

He said the people of Telangana were angry with the BRS government. They are angry enough to send them to jail, he said.

Modi's visit assumes importance in the backdrop of such heated political atmosphere. As Modi is scheduled to address the party leaders and workers at Parade Grounds after the official programme, all eyes are now on what would he say.

Will it be hard-hitting political speech or will he touch upon the developments in Telangana and the criticism that has been coming from the BRS leaders?

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements have been made in the city. Over 1,000 policemen and Central forces have been deployed. ]

The police has warned that stern action would be taken if anyone tries to create any obstruction during PM's visit. This has been done in the wake of the protest call given by the BRS over Singareni Collieries issue.