Vijayawada: All eyes on Modi’s Chilakaluripet meet

Vijayawada : All eyes are on the March 17 public meeting to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chilkaluripeta.

This triple engine meeting (Modi, Naidu and Pawan) assumes importance in the wake of the revival of alliance between the TDP, BJP and Jana Sena after five years of ‘divorce’. It also assumes importance because of the possibility of Modi announcing ‘Bharat Ratna’ for NTR at the meeting is not ruled out.

For the BJP, this meeting will be a takeoff meeting to revive their political fortunes in the state and hence Mod’s meeting becomes the most important for the saffron party.

There are several issues on which the Prime Minister needs to give clarifications so that his speech would have an impact on the voters who have been angry with the BJP on many counts, say party leaders.

Modi’s ‘guarantee’ becomes important as this meeting would be followed by top leaders, including Amit Shah, will be descending on AP and Modi himself may address two more public meetings in the run-up to the polls.

Meanwhile, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu at a first press conference after the announcement of alliance has indicated the possible issues which Modi may touch in the Chilakaluripet meeting.

Naidu said unless a state government pursues its wish-list with the Centre, state cannot develop. The present government never did that, he said, adding that after bifurcation, the Centre gave funds for the Polavaram project, construction of Amaravati as capital city and for others. Sometimes, the state was asked to spend money and claim reimbursement.

That is how 74% of Polavaram was completed, he added.

Naidu said the TDP-JSP combine had suggested alternative solutions to the issue of disinvestment in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant which the Centre may consider. He said if the YSRCP government had allocated land, the special railway zone would have been a reality by now.

The TDP chief said after the bifurcation, the TDP was part of the NDA. “I had no issues with Modi. I only differed on the issue of special category status as I thought it was becoming sentimental issue,” he said.

He said the TDP-JSP combine had decided to firm up the alliance with the BJP because the state has been ruined and economy has to be put on track for which Centre’s help was a must.

He further said the TDP would be announcing its second list of about 50 Assembly candidates and some Lok Sabha candidates on Thursday.