Modi's Hidden Agenda Is One Person, One Party: CM

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy today said that the concept of "One Nation, One Election" was essentially a strategy for "One Person, One Party", which was the hidden agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He made this statement while addressing the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters, organised by the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi in Thiruvananthapuram.

Reddy expressed concern regarding the proposed delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, and said that the southern States which had been successful in implementing family planning and exhibiting faster development relative to their northern counterparts seemed to be facing repercussions for their progress.

"The Union government is not extending equal support to all States, and is discriminating particularly against those in the south and those governed by parties other than the BJP. The Southern States should unite to uphold the guarantees enshrined in the Indian Constitution and protect their rights. The residents of the Southern States - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry - must come together to oppose the Modi administration. If necessary, I will take the lead in this effort," he said.

"India operates as a federation of States. Modi cannot disregard the essential rights of these States. His intention appears to be to assert control over the States and transform them into local bodies," Reddy added.

Reddy took the opportunity to also speak about the "Telangana Rising" global investment initiative. He said that that was more than just a slogan and embodied the aspirations of four crore people of Telangana, and that through the initiative he wanted to position Telangana as a premier State not only in India but across the globe. However, the Union government was not extending enough support to it, he lamented.

"Should the Central government not provide support to Telangana in order to accomplish such milestones? If Telangana is on the path to becoming a trillion-dollar economy, would this not also contribute positively to India's overall growth?" he asked.