CPI, CPM Slam PM's Speech In Warangal

CPI State secretary Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once again betrayed the people of Telangana by not mentioning the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act in his speech delivered to the people of the State at a public meeting held by the BJP in Warangal.

Terming the speech of the Prime Minister as good for nothing, Rao said that the Prime Minister had confined himself to criticising the State government, instead of addressing the promises made by the Centre to the State.

He also said that the Prime Minister, who had not bothered to implement the promises made in the Reorganisation Act for nine-and-a-half years, had laid the foundation stones in a hurry as elections were approaching.

"Instead of the coach factory, which was to be built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, a wagon repair unit at a cost of Rs 519 crore was sanctioned by the PM. It is a fraud. No announcement has been made on issues including a steel plant at Bayyaram, a tribal university and national status for the Palamuru-Rangareddy project. And it is ironical that Narendra Modi, who talked about jobs in Telangana, forgot the BJP's promise of providing two crore jobs annually," he added.

He also slammed the local police for arresting his party's leaders and workers who were agitating against the visit of the PM.

Meanwhile, the protests of the CPI against the visit of the Prime Minister continued on the second day in various parts of the State. Around 12,000 workers in all the Singareni areas including Kothagudem, Manuguru, Illandu, Satthupalli, Ramagundam, Srirampur, Mandamarri, Bellampalli and Bhupalapalli wore black badges and went to work in protest. Protests were held in Khammam, Kothagudem and other districts. Similarly, affiliated organizations of the CPI organized protests from the State party office Makhdoom Bhavan to the Himayatnagar crossroads in Hyderabad. Rao participated in the protest at Kothagudem.

Likewise, the CPM too came down heavily on Modi, with CPM State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram too alleging that there was no mention of the promises made by the union government in the AP Reorganisation Act in the PM's speech delivered at Warangal.

Echoing similar views as Rao, Tammineni too said that the union government was supposed to set up a coach factory at Kazipet as per the promises of the AP Reorganisation Act, and the laying a foundation stone for a wagon workshop in Warangal today after nine years was a betrayal of the people of Telangana, especially given that Modi's home State of Gujarat got a railway coach factory.

He too said that Modi's visit was for the sake of votes in the upcoming Assembly elections and not for development of the State, and demanded that the Prime Minister release the funds due to the State and implement the promises made in the AP Reorganization Act.