As BJP leaders put up a show of unity in Hyderabad ahead of PM Modi Telangana visit, members come to blows

In Hyderabad, the two leaders jointly appealed to the people to make the prime minister’s visit to the state a success. Kishan Reddy and Sanjay jointly addressed a press conference during which they made this appeal.

Modi is expected to visit Hanamkonda on 8 July to lay the foundation stone for various infrastructure projects worth around ₹6,100 crore,

Related: BJP replaces Bandi Sanjay with Kishan Reddy to down Congress

Appeal to people 

Interacting with reporters, Sanjay appealed to the people and cadre to take part in Modi’s public meeting in large numbers.

Kishan Reddy called upon the people of Telangana — especially farmers and the youth — to make Modi’s meeting a success.

Taking strong exception to the BRS and the Congress spewing venom on the BJP, Kishan Reddy said the people of Telangana had decided to teach a fitting lesson to the BRS during the year-end Assembly elections.

“It’s is the BJP that will take on the BRS and dethrone it in the next elections,” he said, adding that not even 1 percent of the people across the state would support the BRS.

Asked to respond to reports that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was behind the appointment of the Telangana BJP president, Kishan Reddy refuted the claim.

In fact, the BRS and the Congress earlier formed an alliance and contested elections, he noted.

The DNA of the BRS and the Congress was the same, and the two parties were like two sides of a coin, he added.

If anyone voted for the Congress, then it was like voting for the BRS, he claimed, adding that several Congress candidates who became MLAs on the party’s tickets were later ministers in the BRS government.

Kishan Reddy also made it clear that the BJP would not forge any alliance with the BRS.

He recalled that the Union Home Amit Shah earlier said that the BJP would leave no stone unturned in defeating the BRS in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Related: ‘Centre giving top priority for infra development in Telangana‘

Attack on KCR

Kishan Reddy sought to know from the chief minister why the Hyderabad Metro extended to only the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and not to Falaknuma.

The ultimate goal of the BJP was to put an end to the corruption and family rule in the state, and the party would strive to fulfil the aspirations of all those who sacrificed their lives for separate Telangana during the statehood agitation, he added.

At a separate press conference in Hanamkonda, BJP MLA Eatala Rajender said both the BRS and the Congress were resorting to false propaganda against the BJP, and alleged the two parties became one to target the BJP.

He said the BJP was strong in Telangana and its winning streak started from the 2019 Parliament elections and continued in the Dubakka and Huzurabad byelections along with the GHMC municipal elections.

The party fought the elections morally in Munugode bypoll as well, he said, adding that the entire cadre was involved in making Modi’s visit a success.

Also read: Kishan Reddy faults Telangana for leasing ORR to pvt firm

Clashes in Anakapalle

Even as Bandi Sanjay and Kishan Reddy were trying to put up a united front in Hyderabad, infighting in the saffron party’s state unit came to the fore at Narsampet in the erstwhile Warangal district on Thursday evening.

The supporters of senior leaders Revuri Prakash Reddy and Ranaprathap Reddy came to blows at the party office in Narsampet and threw chairs at each other. They also damaged chairs and furniture in the office.

The followers of the two leaders claimed that preference was not given to them in the party.

The irate followers relented when party seniors persuaded them to not resort to violence at a time when the prime minister was about to visit Telangana.