K Chandrasekhar Rao will not receive PM Narendra Modi
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will not go to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he lands today in Hyderabad's Begumpet airport, as part of his two-day visit to four southern states.
Instead, the minister-in-waiting would be Talasani Srinivas Yadav, who has received him as per protocol, every time PM Modi arrived in Telangana and the Chief Minister skipped the event.
BJP leaders say the Chief Minister, also known as KCR, would be violating protocol by not showing up to receive PM Modi.
What would also greet the Prime Minister are posters, banners and placards put up at strategic locations in Hyderabad and Ramagundam, asking PM Modi questions about the goods and services tax (GST) for weavers, a controversial tech project and so on.
"Why should they bring politics into this? It is a matter of pride and prestige for Telangana that the Prime Minister is launching and dedicating to the nation several projects that would benefit the state," Union Minister Kishan Reddy, who is the MP from Secunderabad, said.
The BJP leaders condemned the attempt to put up posters asking PM Modi not to come to Telangana. "Is he not Prime Minister of India? Or is Telangana not a part of India?" a BJP leader said.
"KCR is behaving like a child. He and his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, are jealous of the BJP's gaining popularity in the southern state," BJP leader Ramchander Rao told NDTV.
"When MK Stalin and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who are both political opponents of the BJP, can receive and welcome the Prime Minister, why not KCR?" he said.
Yesterday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin received PM Modi at Dindigul along with Governor RN Ravi, even though the DMK has sought the Governor's removal, citing that he is unfit for the post.
Later in the evening, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy welcomed PM Modi in Vizag.
PM Modi's visit to Telangana comes at a time when the ruling TRS and the BJP have been sparring over several issues in the last few months. The latest, an allegation by KCR that the BJP at the centre is trying to topple his government by conspiring to bribe or threaten his MLAs. The BJP has denied this.
"We have no link with those three people who have been arrested. Why would we pay hundreds of crores to buy a few MLAs? It is a drama, scripted and directed by KCR," a BJP leader said.
The BJP, however, had lost a key by-election in Telangana's Munugode earlier this week.