BJP vs TRS: Ahead of key saffron meet, Hyderabad sees poster war

Tribune News Service

Vibha Sharma

Hyderabad, July 1

The city of Charminar is coloured with hues of saffron with the BJP flags, posters and banners adorning the airport and the capital of Telangana ahead of the key national executive meeting at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre beginning Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top BJP leadership will be here for the meeting, which the party leaders say will "decide the future course of the party for the next two years".

The BJP has selected the venue, within the backyard of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), with care. 

One of the key focus states for the BJP for the 2024 general election, the saffron party is also hoping to "dislodge" Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR as he is popularly known), the chief minister of Telangana since June 2014, in the Assembly election next year. 

The BJP not only expects the good prospect of denting the ruling TRS, but also forming the next government in another southern state, after Karnataka.

According to BJP general secretary in-charge of the state, Tarun Chugh, exactly 522 days are left (from today) for KCR's exit.

"After that it will be ‘bye bye, KCR’,” Chugh said.

While the BJP has put up the ‘Kalvakuntla countdown’ clock, the ruling TRS is also keeping a close watch on the BJP's activities.

After the BJP put up the clocks with the caption ‘enough KCR, adios KCR’, hoardings/banners with phrases like ‘bye bye, Modi’, ‘enough, Modi’, and ‘spare us, Modi’ were spotted in several parts.

TRS has also put up posters supporting opposition's presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.  

On Thursday, KCR’s son and party’s working president KT Rama Rao took a jibe over the rising prices and the sliding value of the rupee against the US dollar, saying the BJP government would be known for these “achievements”.

"Time has come to say bye bye, Modi,” KTR said calling the two-day meeting "a BJP circus".

"What do they do in that circus? What will they say to people? Other than telling blatant lies, there will be no truth,” KTR said, referring to the meeting. 

Chugh, however, called such statements "a clear sign of worry in the TRS".

"The writing is on the wall. Electoral successes, including in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, are an endorsement of the BJP's popularity after it won four of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in 2019," he added.

"TRS is a dynastic, corrupt political party. Inki shaamen (evenings) kaise chalti hain, kaise rangeen hoti hain, sab jaante hain," Chugh said.

The BJP has tried to make its presence felt with posters showcasing the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government with cutouts and banners of its top leadership put up in the city.

Delegates from across the country will be present for the meetings at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre for the next two days.

The city also witnessed a mega roadshow on the arrival of party chief JP Nadda on Friday. 

Prime Minister Modi will address a public meeting, Vijay Sankalp Sabha, on July 3. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of party-ruled states, and senior leaders will participate in the meeting. 

Whether Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis will be one of them remains to be seen.

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