A new poster in Hyderabad, inspired by the Netflix series Money Heist, took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While the BJP posters were about welcoming their national leaders ahead of the National executive meeting, the TRS posters claimed the success of welfare schemes launched by KCR. (South First/Ajay Tomar)
The TRS and the BJP have locked horns in a poster slugfest ahead of the latter’s national executive meeting in Hyderabad on 2 and 3 July.
On Friday, 1 July, a Money Heist-inspired hoarding was seen at LB Nagar Circle in Hyderabad.
“Mr. N Modi, we only rob banks, you rob the whole nation [sic],” the hoarding read, displaying images of the hit Netflix show that revolves around a bank robbery by masked criminals.
TRS leaders did not miss the chance to take a dig at their political rival with these hoardings.
Here’s what TRS social media convenor Satish Reddy posted on Twitter:
Such creativity!#Hyderabad#MoneyHeist pic.twitter.com/r5jNl9aMtb
— YSR (@ysathishreddy) July 1, 2022
This came on the heels of several hoardings targeting Modi appearing overnight across Hyderabad in areas like Parade Grounds, Begumpet, Hitech City, Abids, Nampally, Banjara Hills, Madhapur, and Lakdikapul.
One of the banners, with Modi’s picture and the slogan “Saalu Modi and Sampaku Modi (Bye Bye Modi)”, was seen near the VVIP entrance of the Parade Grounds in Secunderabad, where the prime minister is scheduled to address a rally on the evening of 3 July.
The poster talked of the policy slip-ups by the prime minister, like bringing back black money from foreign countries, repealing farm laws, the Agnipath scheme, demonetisation, privatisation of public-sector undertakings, and the Union government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Secunderabad Cantonment authorities and the GHMC, however, removed the billboards near the meeting venue on 3 July.
A police complaint was filed in the Begumpet police station in this regard.
The BJP virtually painted the city saffron by putting up wall posters, huge cutouts, banners and flagposts almost everywhere in Hyderabad.
Similar flex boards were exhibited in different parts of Telangana: Adilabad, Warangal, and Karimnagar, the parliamentary constituency of Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay.
BJP cutouts and flags near Hitech City on 1 July ahead of the prime minister’s visit for the National Executive Meeting. (South First/Ajay Tomar)
The party also displayed a billboard with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s picture with the Telugu slogan “Salu Dora, Sampaku Dora (Enough boss, don’t kill us boss)” near the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee building at the party headquarters in Nampally.
“We have also installed boards of electronic watches showing countdowns of the TRS government going out and the BJP coming to power in Telangana. Today, 522 days are left for this corrupt government. Bye Bye KCR,” BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh told reporters in Hyderabad.
Then, posters, billboards, and pink flags advertising the various achievements of the KCR government and supporting the TRS-backed vice-presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha mushroomed across the city — under the Hyderabad metro rail pillars, bus shelters, and road dividers.
TRS billboards and flags under the metro pillars. (The South First / Ajay Tomar)
Alleging that the BJP workers “started this low-level poster politics”, TRS national spokesperson Krishank Manne told South First that they “have done the chhedkhani (mockery). They should have maintained their dignity while conducting a national-level meeting.”
He added, “Our party cadres also gave befitting by placing the Bye-Bye Modi poster near Parade Ground.”
With its National Executive Meeting scheduled to be held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in Hitech City on 2 and 3 July, over 300 BJP leaders — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers, and deputy chief ministers of 14 NDA-ruled states, national committee members, and state party presidents — will participate.
According to the BJP, 34 committees have been formed to help conduct the two-day event.
Every party leader has been asked to amass 10,000 people from their constituencies so that the party’s hope to mobilise 10 lakh people for Modi’s public gathering on 3 July can be fulfilled.
BJP leaders and national office bearers, including Union Ministers and MPs, reportedly on the instructions of party president JP Nadda, were asked to propagate the party’s ideas and meet the public in all 119 state Assemblies on 30 June and 1 July as a part of the BJP’s “Mission Telangana”.
Nadda, accompanied by Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, conducted a roadshow on 1 July stretching 1 kilometre from the Hyderabad International Airport at Shamshabad.
“The BJP plans to register its presence in Telangana. A ‘vijay sankalp’ (victory oath) will be taken by Modi and our cadres in this historical gathering,” said Chugh, expressing confidence in the BJP’s victory in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.
Manne, however, said BJP representatives were welcome to see the development of Telangana in all 119 Assembly constituencies.
“Let them go to Kaleshwaram, T-Hub, and other places to see the implementation of our projects. Our chief minister always says ‘aao, dekho, seekho (come, see, learn)’.”
The TRS leader said that most BJP candidates referred to the projects of Telangana during their election campaign.
“Take the 2022 UP elections. Most of the ministers there used our Kukatpally and Sheikh Pet flyovers as promises during their campaign.”
The TRS has deemed the BJP national meet an “entertainment event” with a “mere show of power and no interest in the development of the state”.
Manne said: “During the severe 2020 Hyderabad floods, there was zero financial assistance from the National Disaster Fund. In his 2015 election campaign, the prime minister promised national status for the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy irrigation project, which continues to be pending, but Modi does not speak about it.”
He added about Modi: “We built the Kaleshwaram irrigation project on our own. He has launched a ₹1,000-crore project in Gujarat but not in Telangana. He just comes here as a political tourist to give speeches and leave.”
Meanwhile, AICC national spokesperson Dasoju Sravan told South First that both the TRS and the BJP would face defeat in next year’s elections.
“It is the mood of people. Both parties have destroyed the economy, law and order, and overlooked the common people’s welfare,” he said.
The former Khairtarabad MLA added: “However big a fan response the BJP gets from this meeting, it won’t be enough to get votes.”
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