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Updated: Aug 18, 2019 23:25 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party working president J P Nadda on Sunday expressed confidence that Telangana would join the BJP’s kitty like all the other states in the country by 2024.

Nadda addressed a huge rally in Hyderabad, where a large number of leaders, including ex-MLAs from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress, joined the BJP.

“When the entire nation is rallying behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi and getting benefits from his government’s policies and programmes, Telangana cannot lag behind. The people of Telangana also should enjoy the fruits of development initiated by the Modi government,” the BJP working president said.

Stating that it was the dream of the people of Telangana to see BJP rule in the state, Nadda called upon the party workers to strive for the realization of their dreams in the next elections. “Though the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was not part of the NDA, Modi has not shown any discrimination against the state and fulfilled all the promises made in the state bifurcation act. Though it was not mentioned in the act, the Modi government sanctioned an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to Telangana,” he reminded.

Coming down heavily on the TRS government led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the BJP leader said the state government was not able to utilize the central funds for various schemes, like PM Awas Yojana and Ayushman Bhava.

“The chief minister is ruling the state like a monarch, instead of being democratic. He does not go to Secretariat at all, but wants to demolish the existing secretariat on the pretext of bad Vastu. He has scant respect towards women, as there is not a single woman in his cabinet,” he said.

Nadda also alleged that KCR (as the Telangana CM is called) was wasting huge public money by escalating the cost of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project by two times, though it could have been completed with Rs 30,000 crore. “It is nothing but cheating the people,” he said.

He also accused the TRS chief of indulging in mere publicity, while nothing was happening in action. “He wasted money in the name of Haritha Haram, a tree plantation programme. He cheated Dalits by going back on his promise of distributing three acres of land to each of them. If at all there is anybody who got benefitted during the TDP regime, it is family members of KCR,” he alleged.

The BJP working president welcomed leaders from other parties who had come forward to strengthen the BJP in Telangana. “They are joining us with a strong faith in the leadership of Modi. The party will give them due recognition and respect,” he said.

Lashing out at the Congress for opposing the abrogation of Article 370, Nadda wondered how the Congress could call itself a nationalist party. “Thanks to the leadership of Modi and Amit Shah, today every Jammu and Kashmir citizen will enjoy the same benefits that every other Indian has,” he said.

Union minister Kishan Reddy and, Telangana BJP chief Dr Laxman were also present at the meeting.