Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent nearly two hours with the partymen from Telangana, including 47 corporators of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), interacting with them by putting a “gag order” requesting them not to reveal the meeting details “if they have any love for him.”
The meeting was held on Tuesday evening at his official residence in Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi.
Although the PM has tweeted photos of the meeting and mentioned about “community service, good governance and ending dynastic rule” as issues discussed with the party leaders led by Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Rajya Sabha MP K.Laxman, party president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar and others, party sources said that Mr. Modi was against leaking all that has happened inside.
The meeting itself got put off at least once because of the busy schedule of the Prime Minister. After the lunch hosted by Mr. Kishan Reddy at his residence, the delegation was supposed to be going to the PM’s house at 4 p.m. but, it was later shifted to 6.15 p.m. and even as the clock ticked away and the leaders were getting tense, Mr. Modi walked in. The meeting stretched till about 8.15 p.m., they informed, pleading anonymity.
Apparently, the Prime Minister listened to at least 25 leaders from the 70-odd delegation, among them women corporators, to speak about the kind of work they have been doing and the governance. He told them that the party will have to work hard if it has to take advantage of the growing resentment against the ruling Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) regime to come to power in the next elections.
While Mr. Modi hosted hi-tea, the BJP leaders had to face a sticky situation in the aftermath of the meeting as various media personnel started calling for “exclusive inside information”.
“One by one each of top leaders mobiles got buzzing and they were showing phones to each other as they were not sure on what can be revealed,” party sources said about mediapersons in Delhi and from here calling up every other leader they have been acquainted with.
“It is not often grassroot leaders get to meet the Prime Minister and Mr. Modi was keen to show that they matter and make them feel part of the leadership team of Team Telangana,” they added.
