Amit Shah sets sights on South

Party keen on strengthening its base in Telangana. He asked the BJP workers in Telangana to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 on a large scale in every nook and corner of the State.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders accorded warm reception to party’s national president Amit Shah on his maiden visit to Hyderabad on Thursday. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set its sights on strengthening the organisation in the South beginning from Telangana with its national president Amit Shah unveiling the party’s plans at a workers meeting here on Thursday.

The party’s government at the Centre this time was formed with the support from parts of North, West and East but the South and North-Eastern States would help its return to power in 2019, Mr. Shah asserted while addressing the party workers of Greater Hyderabad unit. The meeting was organised to felicitate him on his taking over the party’s reigns at national level.

“It was the Iron man from Gujarat, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who liberated Hyderabad State from Nizam ‘nawabs’ in 1948 and it will be another Gujarati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will spur the progress of Telangana now,” the Bharatiya Janata Party president said in his first visit to a Southern State after taking up the new responsibility.

But for Sardar Patel, the accession of 600 princely States to the Indian Union would have delayed, Mr Shah said. He asked the BJP workers in Telangana to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 on a large scale in every nook and corner of the State.

Rebutting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s criticism of Mr. Modi’s rule and her remarks stating that one party had come to power at the Centre by making false promises, Mr. Shah said: “It’s not even 90 days for the BJP government. We will keep all our promises and come back to power in 2019 with a better mandate.” He suggested Ms. Gandhi to look back into the last 10-year rule of the Congress (UPA) and explain people why it had failed to control even the price rise, keeping aside spiralling corruption and series of scams.

Upholding self-respect

Mr. Shah termed the Modi Government’s decision to call-off Secretary-level talks with Pakistan as upholding the country’s self-respect as the Pakistan High Commissioners to India had made it a habit to have a dialogue with Kashmiri separatist leaders before the talks between the two countries.