Owaisi Steers TRS Car, Holds Back KCR from Celebrating Telangana Day: BJP Chief

Hyderabad: The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Lakshman on Wednesday vowed to bring an end to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) rule as the saffron party was all set to come to power after the 2023 elections.

Hitting out at Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for offering a corrupt and family-dominated rule, Lakshman said the TRS government failed to keep its promises and ignored the welfare issues of people.

He said the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi was steering the ‘car’ (TRS symbol) of the ruling party in the state. The BJP leader accused the chief minister of being afraid of Owaisi and losing Muslim votes that stopped him from commemorating Telangana Liberation Day.

“Not observing liberation day is an affront to martyrs’ families and the BJP will celebrate it after coming to power,” Lakshman said, adding, “The TRS will see its end in the hands of BJP leaders and the former cannot prevent a saffron surge even with the help of AIMIM and Congress.”

The BJP has already proved its growing presence in the state by winning four parliamentary seats, he said as the party celebrated its coming to power in the neighbouring state of Karnataka.

He further said that many Telangana NRIs in the United States were attracted by the Narendra Modi government’s policies and want to join the BJP to strengthen it.

“I was in the US for a week. I met several NRIs and held discussions with them. They said they felt proud now as Indians because of Modi’s administration. They want to join BJP and strengthen it," he told reporters at a press meet.

He said many Telangana NRIs who had earlier supported the separate statehood call were now disillusioned about Rao’s governance and believed BJP would emerge victorious in the next Assembly polls.

Lakshman complimented the Modi government for ensuring passage of a bill that makes instant triple talaq among Muslims a criminal offence and alleged that the opposition Congress had tried to stall it by creating hurdles