Readying for a showdown

PNS | Hyderabad

A battle of political public meetings will be held in Telangana in February with the Parade grounds as the battleground. First, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting will be held and then a public meeting will be held by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Parade Grounds after four days.

Prime Minister Modi is visiting Telangana on February 13. Although he was supposed to come in January, it got postponed. Foundation stones will be laid for many Central projects including railway and other projects.

After that, the BJP leaders prepared a plan to hold a huge public meeting at Parade Grounds. BRS chief KCR has prepared a plan for a huge public meeting at the same parade ground on February 17, four days after Modi’s meeting.

BRS hopes to conduct the meeting in order to take Modi head-on. Sources said that after the formation of the BRS, any public meeting held should have national significance and that is why national leaders are being invited to the Parade Grounds meeting.

February 17 is KCR’s birthday. He is opening the secretariat on the same day. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, JDU President Lalan Singh and Dr BR Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, are attending on behalf of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Comparisons will be made only three or four days after Modi held the meeting. There will also be an opportunity to show that they have organised a bigger public meeting than the BJP.

Earlier Modi was supposed to address a meeting on January 19 at the Parade Grounds, but it was advanced and he virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat train on January 15.