Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao said that the Delhi liquor policy case was a ‘scam’ created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to target him and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the latter’s emerging political rivals.
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Addressing a press conference in the city on Saturday, he said that BRS MLC Kavitha and Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest was nothing but PM’s frustration on their political challenge to BJP’s growth. “There is nothing in that case and Kavitha will come out unscathed and prove her innocence,” he said.
He also linked Mr. Modi’s anger towards him due to his decision to send Telangana police to arrest BJP general secretary B.L. Santosh, who he said, tried to topple the BRS government. Mr. Santosh is close to Mr. Modi and he could not digest the fact that police were sent to Delhi to arrest him in the ‘Farmhouse’ case.
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KCR predicted that the political situation in the country was ripe for regional parties to come together and create a situation where one of the national parties, Congress or BJP, will have to support them.
“We are winning 12 to 14 seats in Telangana and I am in touch with other regional players to create that situation,” he said, and did not rule out the Prime Minister’s post if the situation demands. “I will definitely claim it and I am not insane to leave such an offer,” he said.
Stating that BJP would not get beyond 220 seats in the country and not more than 10 seats in the South, he said that Mr. Modi has fallen back on his staple religious divide narrative. “BJP will not be able to open an account in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, and will end up with ‘one or none’ in Telangana. It had an opportunity to get a few sets in Karnataka but Prajwal’s case damaged that prospect,” he added.
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‘Congress lost support’
The BRS chief said that the Congress had lost people’s faith within a few months of coming to power due to ‘misgovernance’ as it “focussed on vengeance politics rather than issues concerning the State”.
“People are wondering why the situation changed drastically with regard to power, water and administrative issues and these are going to hit the Congress. This is my experience after meeting people during my roadshows,” he said.
Responding to a question that Congress would encourage defections from BRS soon after the LS elections, he said about 33 MLAs of Congress were in touch with senior BRS leaders and they want to leave Congress.
The former CM also claimed that minorities are with him. “Who said that MIM is not with us?” he asked while responding to a question that even the mention of MIM was not seen anywhere in BRS campaign.