Hyderabad: In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao forecast on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not secure a majority at the Centre.
During his speech during election rallies in this city, the leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) criticised the Congress and the BJP while restating the importance of regional parties at the Centre.
“Don’t give the BJP a single vote. It is a loss. KCR referred to the BJP and the Congress as two sides of the same coin, saying that voting for the Congress would be even more wasteful.
He anticipated that a coalition government will take office at the Center next year, stating that regional parties will be crucial in the days ahead.
Speaking at a rally in Adilabad, KCR claimed that Telangana was not granted a single medical college by the BJP, which has been in control of the Center for almost ten years.
“Across the nation, 157 new medical colleges have been approved by the BJP government. Despite my 100 letters to the Prime Minister, Telangana did not receive approval for even one medical college. Do we not belong in India? Is this not a state, he questioned.
Alleging that the Modi government has betrayed Telangana, the BRS chief mentioned that despite an Act being passed in the Parliament for Navodaya schools in all districts, the Centre did not sanction such schools for Telangana
He appealed to the people to not only vote BRS to power again in the state, but also ensure that the party wins all the Parliamentary seats so that Telangana can show its strength at the Centre.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former Union minister P. Chidambaram made some interesting comments when he was asked about KCR’s prediction about coalition government at the Centre.
“Is he extending an olive branch to the Congress or to the BJP? Let him clarify first. We ran two successful coalition governments in Delhi from 2004 to 2009 and from 2009 to 2014,” he said.
Quoting Arvind Subramanian, former Chief Economic Advisor to the Modi government, Chidambaram said that was the golden period of growth.
“From 2004 to 2009, our average growth rate was 8.5 per cent and for the entire 10 years, the average growth rate was 7.5 per cent. Never before or never after have we achieved such growth rate,” he said.
When asked about KCR’s prediction that the BRS will play a key role after the 2024 elections, Chidambaram said, “I wish him well.”
“At the best how many seats can he win? With 17 seats, if he can play a key role, I wish him well.”
