War over protocol

PNS | Hyderabad

All these days Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been criticizing the TRS government over protocol issues during her official visits to various places and at official functions. Seeking to pay the Bharatiya Janata Party in its own coin, the TRS government has now alleged that the Union government had failed in following  protocol in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Telangana on 12th November for dedicating to the nation a factory of the Ramagumdam Fertilisers Ltd.

TRS working president and IT Minister KT Rama Rao told the media on Tuesday: “The Centre had sent an invitation for name sake. It appears they do not want the CM to attend the function. Telangana State has a share in the Ramagumdam Fertilisers factory. CM should have been the main guest, next to the PM, on that event. But Union government had failed to follow this protocol” (sic).

The IT Minister has thus indicated that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will not attend the Prime Minister’s programme. Nor will the CM receive the Prime Minister at the airport. In the past too, KCR has skipped welcoming Modi at the airport during his visits to Telangana.

On this, the position of the TRS government is that when the Prime Minister comes on a private visit, the Chief Minister need not follow protocol in welcoming him at the airport. This being so, Modi is coming to Telangana on 12th November on an official visit – to dedicate to the nation the fertilizer factory in which the state government has a stake. The BJP state unit is preparing to hold a massive public meeting to be addressed by Modi on the occasion.

As per protocol, the CM must welcome the PM at the airport.  However, given the protocol issue raised by KTR, the state government may depute a minister to participate in the meeting on behalf the state government.

So, it appears that Modi could face protests, instead of welcome, during his visit to Telangana.The Communist Party of India state unit has already announced its plan to stage protests opposing the PM’s visit to the state.The CPI says the PM has no right to visit Telangana because he did nothing to the state over the last eight years.Some trade unions are also planning to stage protests, opposing the central government’s policy on privatization of public sector units across the nation.The TRS is also demanding the PM to announce financial assistance to the state during his visit to Telangana.