A sudden downpour scattered the people, who were waiting to hear her but it did not deter the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj, from doing her bit to boost her party's prospects in the Parkal Assembly by-election.
Braving the rain, she went on addressing the people, who still remained on the grounds. She cheered the crowds stating that it would be the BJP, which would carve out separate Telangana State whenever it would happen in future.
Thanking the people of Mahabubnagar for electing the BJP candidate this time, Ms. Sushma Swaraj said TRS and Congress MPs have restricted themselves to slogan-raising and staging walkouts in the Parliament.
The BJP believed that separate Telangana demand was justified and hence the party was espousing the cause. However, a party should have majority in Parliament to introduce the bill for creation of separate Telangana. She hoped people of Telangana would strengthen the hands of BJP to realise their dream. The BJP State unit, which was vigorously campaigning for the Parkal Assembly by-election had arranged the meeting of Ms. Sushma Swaraj as a grand finale in Hanamkonda.
After her arrival at 6 p.m., the crowd began to swell but she was made to wait as the party's State unit reportedly tied up with a television channel for live telecast of her speech from 8 p.m. Their plans were foiled when heavy winds and rain began at 7.30 p.m. Around 30,000 people, who gathered for the meeting ran helter-skelter and some ran away covering themselves with the plastic chairs arranged there for sitting. The power supply to the dais was shut off as a precautionary measure for a while.
Though Ms. Sushma Swaraj spent some time in the car, she chose to come out on the dais to infuse confidence among the cadres. BJP State president G. Kishna Reddy was present.
