He recalled that the people of the country had voted an OBC leader as the PM and the roots for his elevation had been laid in Hyderabad at the same stadium.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance that would protect the interests of OBCs and the other oppressed sections.
Calling upon the people of Telangana to pull down “arrogant” Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao from power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that Telangana would get the first OBC (other backward class) chief minister if the Bharatiya Janata Party is voted to power in the state in the upcoming assembly elections.
“Ego and arrogance will lead to the downfall of any person. The same arrogance is visible in the BRS leaders. Because of this arrogance, the people of Telangana taught a fitting lesson to KCR in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The same will happen in the coming assembly elections,” Modi said, addressing a massive rally – “BC Atma Gourava Sabha” (Meeting of self-respect for backward classes) – at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad in the evening.
He recalled that the people of the country had voted an OBC leader as the Prime Minister and the roots for his elevation had been laid in Hyderabad at the same stadium. “In 2013, I addressed my first meeting in Telangana at this ground. People had bought tickets to attend the meeting in large numbers that caught the attention of the entire world,” he said.
That laid the foundation for making Modi as the Prime Minister. With the blessings of the people from this “maidan”, the first backward classes chief minister of BJP will also emerge,” he said.
Modi said it was the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance that would protect the interests of OBCs and the other oppressed sections. “We have been giving them due representation. There are 27 OBC ministers in the NDA government at the Centre, which is the highest since independence.
Today, the BJP has 85 OBC MPs, 365 OBC assembly members, and 65 OBC Legislative Council members across the country,” he said
Stating that the BJP had given due representation to Dalits, Adivasis, and minorities, the Prime Minister pointed out that it was the BJP that had made APJ Abdul Kalam, Ramnath Kovind and Droupadi Murmu as the Presidents. “The same BJP has made an OBC leader like me as the Prime Minister,” he said.
He announced that the BJP-led NDA government would continue the free rice supply to the poor for another five years. “We shall extend reservations to the OBCs in all government medical and dental colleges,” he said.
On the other hand, the BRS had done little for the OBCs and other weaker sections, Modi alleged. “In the last nine-and-a-half years, an anti-OBC, anti-Dalit and anti-tribal man has been ruling the state. He betrayed their faith by not fulfilling any promises made to them.”
Modi said the people of Telangana were desperately seeking a change of guard in the next elections. “They have complete faith in the BJP. We are sure to come to power,” he said.
The prime Minister refuted the allegation of the Congress that the Centre was protecting the BRS leaders in scandals. “I want to tell such people that there is no question of sparing anybody and action will be taken against corrupt BRS leaders. Those who have looted the public will have to pay back,” he said.
Reacting to the Congress allegation that the BRS was the “B” team of the BJP, Modi said in fact, the Congress itself was the “C” team of the BRS. “Both the parties are two sides of the same coin and their DNA is the same. Both the parties encourage family rule, nepotism, and corruption and follow the politics of appeasement,” he alleged.
Jana Sena Party president and actor Pawan Kalyan, who has an alliance with the BJP, also attended the rally and praised Modi’s leadership.
BRS spokesperson Dasoju Sravan said Modi had made a mockery of himself by projecting an OBC as the CM candidate for Telangana, though the BJP has no capacity to cross even a single-digit mark in the coming elections.
“Secondly, if Modi has so much love for the OBCs, he should explain why an OBC leader was sacked as the Telangana BJP chief and replaced by an upper caste man. Thirdly, Modi, who claims to be an OBC leader, should also owe an explanation why his government was against caste-based survey to enumerate the OBCs, if not under pressure from the upper castes,” Sravan said.
Senior Congress leader and former MP Siricilla Rajaiah said the people of Telangana won’t get carried away by the fake promise of the Prime Minister that the OBC would be made the chief minister of Telangana.
“Everybody in the state knows that the BJP has no strength or ability to come to power in Telangana. So, they can make any fancy promise that the BC leader would become CM. Modi has made the statement knowing fully well that the party cannot come to power in the state,” Rajaiah said.