Lotus will bloom everywhere in Telangana: Modi
Hyderabad (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took apparent potshots at the ruling TRS in Telangana, saying it has 'betrayed' the people and asserted the 'Lotus will bloom' everywhere in the state.
The PM's statement comes ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections in the state, where the BJP is seeking to challenge the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS.
The political party on which Telangana had a lot of faith has betrayed the people, Modi said without naming the TRS and added signals are indicating that Lotus will bloom in the state.
Modi landed here this afternoon to dedicate to the nation a fertilizer plant at Ramagundam in the state, besides inaugurating and laying foundation stone for multiple development projects.
"In the recent times, whatever bypolls were held, the message is loud and clear that the sunrise is not far. Darkness will vanish. Lotus will bloom everywhere in Telangana," Modi said.
"The party on which the Telangana people had a lot of faith, the same party betrayed Telangana. But friends, when the darkness looms large from all four sides, Lotus will start to bloom, he said, alluding to the BJP's symbol.
"Now Telangana people want a government that works for all the families of Telangana instead of a single family," Modi said indirectly referring to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
"They want a BJP government," Modi said.
He said he could see the lotus blooming in Telangana, referring to his party's recent prospects in various bypolls. The party had won two Assembly by-polls in the last two years, besides putting up a good show in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections earlier.
Superstitions are being practiced in the city, known for its information technology presence, he said and opined that superstitions decide the governance, in what seemed to a veiled reference at the Chief Minister.
He further said the state government and its leaders here keep doing injustice to Telangana's capacity and its people's talent.
Referring to the recent Munugode bypoll, Modi said the BJP workers together forced the entire state administration to focus on a single election. The ruling party won the seat by a little over 10,000 votes.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
