KCR not to participate in Modi’s programme

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will most likely not participate in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme to dedicate to the nation Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited plant at Ramagundam on Saturday on the ground that the Centre had not extended the invitation to him in a manner befitting his office.

“There was no prior consultation by the Centre with the State government on how to go ahead with the programme. A bland invitation seeking his participation was sent,” sources said.

This will be the fifth time Mr. Rao will be staying away from the engagements of Modi in the State due to strained Centre-State relations. It started in November 2020 when Mr. Modi visited Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad to review vaccine development work for coronavirus when it was in phase III of trials. Mr. Rao was not invited to the facility nor even informed about Mr. Modi’s visit.

Mr. Rao did not participate in the unveiling of the statue of Ramanujacharya at Muchintal and another programme at ICRISAT on February 5 this year. He did not take part in the programme to mark the completion of 20 years of Indian School of Business here in May. He left Hyderabad for Bengaluru an hour before Mr. Modi’s arrival to meet former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda as part of his plans to launch an alternative platform for BJP.

He did not receive Mr. Modi when he came here for the national executive meeting of BJP on July 2, but welcomed the Opposition candidate for Presidential election Yeshwant Sinha at the Begumpet airport the same day. Apart from these, he abstained from Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog which was presided by Mr. Modi at New Delhi in August and some other video conferences convened by the latter with Chief Ministers.

Meanwhile, the TRS has launched a Twitter war on the Centre for the disrespect shown to Mr. Rao for the programme at Ramagundam though the State government enjoyed 11 per cent stake in the project. It was sore that Mr. Rao’s name did not figure in the invitation card for the programme. In a series of tweets, the party asked Mr. Modi whether he will come empty-handed. “What do you have to say about injustice meted out to Telangana”.