PM Modi all style, no substance: Telangana CM lashes out at Center
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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao roundly criticised the BJP-led government at the Center for what he termed as a budget that was "all style and no substance", comparing the Budget of 2022 to Prime Minister Modi's dressing habits, which he said reflected the 'gimmicky' nature of the BJP.
"If it is election time, he has to grow a beard and appear like Rabindranath Tagore. Arrey baap re. If it is Tamil Nadu, he must wear a lungi (sic), what is this?...What does the country get with these kind of gimmicks, what does the country get? If it is the Punjab election, he will wear a pagdi (turban). In Manipur, it will be a Manipuri cap, in Uttarakhand, it will be another topi (cap), how many caps like this?" the Chief Minister lamented.
The CM is scheduled to take a helicopter ride with PM Modi when they travel to the outskirts of Hyderabad for the launch of a statue of Saint Ramanujacharya, said to be the world's second tallest and built at a cost of ₹ 1000 crore.
However, Rao told NDTV that he had no fear of expressing his reservations to the Prime Minister himself and that every CM had a duty to welcome the PM to their state. Criticism was his policy, he emphasised.
"With social media management, lying blatantly, repeating a lie again and again, [the BJP] managed to fool the people so far. But now they have been exposed. They play communal politics of hate and division," he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Despite his current vitriol, the CM and his Telangana Rashtra Samithi party have backed several crucial legislations proposed by the BJP in Parliament.
Rao is scheduled to meet his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray soon as part of his ongoing Project 2024 to bring various opposition forces together as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress. While talking to reporters about the upcoming meeting, he had launched a blistering offensive against the BJP, saying it was time they were "thrown" into the Bay of Bengal.
He has already consulted with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as also with other senior leaders of the CPM and CPI.
