Vote against 'most corrupt' BRS: Modi

Warangal: Describing chief minister Rao’s government as the “most corrupt,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is no project in Telangana devoid of corruption allegations during his visit to Warangal.

Modi laid the foundation stone for several infrastructure development projects in Telangana worth around Rs 6,100 crores in Warangal on Saturday.

The development works include 176-km long National Highway projects worth over Rs 5,550 crores and a railway manufacturing unit in Kazipet to be developed at a cost of over Rs 500 crores. Prior to the inauguration, Modi visited Bhadrakali temple and performed pooja.

Addressing the public gathering, the prime minister said that, even though Telangana is a relatively new state and has completed only nine years of its existence, the contributions of Telangana and its people have been very significant in the history of India.

“The capabilities of Telugu people have always enhanced the capabilities of India. The ongoing third decade of the 21st century is a golden period which should be fully utilised and no part of the nation should lag behind in making faster progress,” he said.

The prime minister emphasised the Centre’s role in improving Telangana’s infrastructure and connectivity in the last nine years. He congratulated the people of Telangana for the latest projects that are worth more than 6,000 crores.

Developments in Telangana

Speaking of how poor connectivity and expensive logistic costs need to be removed for the progress of businesses, the prime minister highlighted the multi-fold increase in the speed and scale of development by the Central government. He gave examples of highways, expressways, economic corridors and industrial corridors and how they are connecting all parts of the state. He said the two-lane and four-lane highways are being converted to four and six-lane highways respectively.

The network of highways in Telangana has seen a two-fold rise from 2,500 km to 5,000 km. Also, the construction of 2,500 km of National Highways is under different stages of development, he said.

Modi said that dozens of corridors are under construction as part of the Bharatmala Project that passes through Telangana. He explained how Hyderabad-Indore Economic Corridor, Chennai-Surat Economic Corridor, Hyderabad-Panji Economic Corridor and Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam Inter Corridor are helping South India grow. In a way, the prime minister continued, Telangana is connecting the surrounding economic centres and becoming a hub of economic activity.

Speaking about the Mancherial-Warangal section of Nagpur–Vijayawada Corridor, whose foundation stone was laid on Saturday, the prime minister said that it will provide modern connectivity to Telangana with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, while reducing the distance between Mancherial and Warangal and put an end to traffic woes.

“The region is home to many tribal communities and has been neglected for a long time,” he said. He said that this corridor will give vision to multimodal connectivity in the state and the four lanes of the Karimnagar-Warangal section will strengthen connectivity for the Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor, Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and Warangal SEZ.

PM Modi laid the foundation stone for these projects in Telangana:

- 176-km long National Highway projects worth over Rs 5,550 crores.

- 108-km long Mancherial-Warangal section of Nagpur-Vijayawada Corridor. The section will reduce the distance between Mancherial and Warangal by around 34 km, reducing travel time and decongesting traffic on NH 44 and NH 65.

- Upgradation of the 68-km long Karimnagar-Warangal section of NH 563 from the existing two-lane to a four-lane configuration. This will improve connectivity to the Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor, Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and SEZ at Warangal.

- A railway manufacturing unit at Kazipet that will be developed at a cost of over Rs 500 crores. The modern manufacturing unit will have enhanced rolling stock manufacturing capacity. It will be equipped with the latest technology standards and facilities such as robotic painting of wagons, state-of-the-art machinery and a plant with modern material storage and handling.

PM Modi takes dig at BRS, AAP

In a veiled dig at the ruling BRS in Telangana and the AAP government in Delhi, prime minister Narendra Modi said it was for the first time that allegations of a corruption deal between two political parties and state governments were cropping up.

Pacts between two state governments for welfare and development issues like sharing water are common, but it is for the first time that such allegations are levelled against two parties, he said referring to the Delhi excise policy case.

While AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the matter, BRS leader and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter, K Kavitha, had appeared before the ED for questioning in connection with the case.

Modi said the BRS government has used up an entire dictionary to shower abuses on the Central government while Telangana says ‘ab ki baar, BJP sarkar,’ meaning it prefers a BJP government. “There used to be news on agreements between two countries or states on development projects. There used to be news that there was an agreement between the two states for water. But this is the first time that allegations of deals for corruption between two parties and two state governments are made. This is unfortunate,” Modi said, indirectly referring to the AAP and BRS.

He further said in the 2021 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, BJP, which put up a good show then, has shown a trailer of its impact to the people and is set to clean sweep BRS and Congress in the next Assembly polls.

Affirming that the BJP never distributes fake guarantee cards to people ahead of elections, PM Modi said Telangana will always say ‘ab ki baar, BJP sarkar.’

Recalling that Janga Reddy from Hanamkonda was one of the only two BJP Lok Sabha MPs that the party had in the early days, the PM said, “Today BJP is the largest political party in the world and Telangana has a greater role to play in the coming days.”

Inputs from PTI