Modi Takes Hyd by Storm

Jai Telangana, Jai Seemandhra

Modi said he had a special link with Hyderabad. “You celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 and that is also my birthday. So it is a special occasion,” he said

Hyderabad: Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP campaign committee chairman Narendra Modi came down heavily on the leadership of UPA and the Congress party for throwing AP in a political turmoil by pitting one brother against the other in the process of addressing the long pending demand for Telangana State. Addressing a mammoth crowd as part of the ‘Navabharath Yuva Bheri” rally of the BJP at the Lal Bahadur Stadium, he said that a mother was least expected to be partial to any one of her twins.

Stating that the Centre should focus equal attention to the concerns of Telangana and Seemandhra regions while facilitating the formation of the new state, he wished that people of the two regions would separate in peace and live in a cordial atmosphere. The bifurcation would usher in a phase of rapid development and prosperity on par with the state of Gujarat. Telangana was as important as Seemandhra for the BJP and no matter whatever games the Congress party had been playing with the Telugu people, the BJP would support both sides, he said.

Appealing to the people of Andhra Pradesh not to fight amongst themselves, he said that there were six lakh Telugu people living in Ahmadabad and four lakh in Surat. They had all been living in harmony with the Gujarati speaking population of the state without any signs of differences and hatred. Blaming the Congress party for the present state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh, he recalled that the NDA regime witnessed the birth of three new states.

But the bifurcation of any of the three new states with their parent states did not witness the AP kind of turmoil. They all got separated sharing sweets among themselves, demonstrating the much needed bonhomie at the crucial hour of bifurcation. The Congress party which decided in favour of allowing Hyderabad as the joint capital for the two states for ten long years, should have initiated the process the moment it came back to power way back in 2004 so as to solve the problem in an amicable manner.

By this time the AP would have had its new capital to facilitate a full fledged bifurcation. Modi concluded his speech with Jai Telangana, Jai Seemandhra. Modi who started his speech in Telugu said he also had a special link with Hyderabad. “You celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 and that is also my birthday. So it is a special occasion,” he said.

Modi concluded his 45-minute speech taking a leaf out of US president Barack Obama by making the crowd chant "Yes We Can.” Another significant slogan which Modi gave was Jai Telangana and Jai Seemandhra. The crowds responded and repeated the slogans raising both hands.

This gesture of Modi earned the hearts of many and people felt that it was time all leaders take a leaf from Modi style of sloganeering so that it could promote harmony between the people of the two regions. Narendra Modi said the Congress party should always be grateful to the people of Andhra Pradesh for it was they who made it possible for UPA led government to be in power at the Centre. They had given biggest number of seats for that party as compared to any other state. But unfortunately in return, the Congress party had created a sense of animosity, fears and apprehensions among the people.

Modi who is being projected as the prime ministerial candidate by the BJP tried to strike a perfect chord with the Telugu speaking people by reading his speech in Telugu for more than six minutes. The audience, majority of whom are youngsters in the age group of 16 to 30, jostled with one another to reach the venue at the earliest by even purchasing Rs 5 ticket, to have a glimpse of the BJP strong man, applauded every word delivered by Modi.

Recalling the remarkable efforts by the Iron man of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in liberating the then Hyderabad State from the clutches of Nizam, Modi said he proposes to erect a statue of the iron man which would be twice the size of the Statute of Liberty. For this, he said he would collect a small portion of iron from each village so that when the statue was ready every citizen would feel that it belongs to him.

This, he said is a four year project and necessary contract for preparing the statue has been given. The process of collecting iron would begin from next month.

Highlights

• Modi begins speech in Telugu to the applause of the crowd
• Flags off BJP poll campaign with 'India First' slogan
• Urges non-Cong parties to come together, woos TDP
• Pays tribute to NTR, says he was the first to give the slogan “Congress-free India”
• Uses Obama's famous words 'Yes we can', and asks audience to repeat with him "Yes we can. Yes we will do"
• UPA flayed for all-round failure, corruption and vote bank politics
• Lambasts PM over ‘meek response’ to belligerent acts of Pakis