Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are afflicted with a "disease" that has caused "communal madness" and prompted them to block enhanced job quotas for Muslims in Telangana, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Friday, as poll-time rhetoric got shriller and nastier.
Rao, the caretaker chief minister, slammed the Centre for keeping on hold a decision on raising reservations for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes from 4 to 12 per cent and 6 to 10 per cent in state government jobs and educational institutions despite the state assembly passing a resolution.
"Narendra Modi and the BJP have a disease...In everything they see, they see Hindu-Muslim (divide). They don't see anything else and so they did not do it (raise the quotas)...they have kept it pending," he told an election rally at Narsampet.
Addressing another election meeting in Mahabubabad, the TRS president repeated his charge and accused the Centre of "religious madness".
"Narendra Modi government has a disease. That is minorities (versus) Hindus....they are in that state of 'mataparamaina pichi' (communal madness)). It is because of this they blocked reservations for STs and Muslims," he said.
Rao said he will ensure that the demand for raising the quotas was accepted if people elected TRS candidates from all the 17 Lok Sabha seats of Telangana next year.
"Not only the Assembly elections...with kindness, help us win all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. Only if we win can we make Delhi bend its neck. We will get our ST reservation, we will get our Muslim reservation," he said.
The TRS leader claimed both the BJP and the Congress wanted to exercise complete control over the states.
"It doesn't matter which of the two parties forms the government at the Centre. Their attitude is the same. Both Congress and the BJP want to concentrate all powers over states into their hands. This is their culture," he said.
Rao once again batted for a non-Congress, non-BJP "federal front" government at the Centre to end that culture.
The TRS chief, who has been assailing the Congress-led opposition coalition that includes Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, asked people at his Narasampet rally whether Telangana needed Naidu. He has been accusing Naidu of stalling the development of Telangana when it was part of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
He hit out at the Congress for merging the Telangana region with Andhra against the wishes of the people of Telangana. He also accused the Congress government of suppressing the agitation for a separate Telangana in 1969.
Rao said Congress leaders were silent when "injustice" was being done to Telangana region in undivided Andhra Pradesh and were trying to bring Naidu back to Telangana now.
PTI
