HYDERABAD/TIRUPATI: BJP considers "liberating Telangana" from the allegedly corrupt Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government of K Chandrashekar Rao not just an electoral challenge but a responsibility towards the people, PM Narendra Modi said at back-to-back poll rallies before embarking on a roadshow through Hyderabad.
The PM, who started his day with prayers at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala, told large gatherings at Mahabubabad and Karimnagar that the onus was on the electorate to ensure it doesn't allow "another disease after getting rid of one", alluding to Congress.
"Telangana's trust is in BJP, and my travels over the past three days have revealed that the people have decided the next CM of Telangana will be from BJP," Modi said.
At Karimnagar, the birthplace of former PM P V Narasimha Rao, he said such was the latter's ability that Congress's "shahi parivar (royal family) resented it and insulted him at every step".
"The parivarvadi (dynasts) only think of their children and have no concern for your children," he told the crowd.
In Hyderabad, thousands of supporters waved, cheered and jostled for a glimpse of the PM on an open-top vehicle, flanked by state BJP president G Kishan Reddy and the party's OBC Morcha national president K Laxman.
The cavalcade took about an hour to cover the 1.5-km stretch from RTC to Kacheguda.
Flag-waving Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) cadre swam with the sea of saffron, showing their support for BJP after Modi's recent assurance that their long-pending demand for SC sub-categorisation would be considered. "This is the first time that our cadre is supporting BJP. There are two reasons why thousands of us reached here, one of which is BJP's decision to make someone from the backward castes CM if it forms the government," said Miryal Naveen Madiga, in charge of MRPS's Karwan unit.
(With agency reports)