Telangana: Amit Shah addresses public meet, says BJP win in Munugode bypoll will herald downfall of KCR govt

Shah had arrived in the afternoon at Begumpet airport and took a chopper to Munugode to participate in the public meeting.

Union Home Minster Amit Shah during his speech in Munugode. (Twitter/@AmitShah)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a public meeting at Munugode in Telangana Sunday, ahead of a by-election.

On August 2, Congress Munugode MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy resigned as MLA and quit the Congress. He was formally inducted into the BJP by Shah at the public meeting in Munugode. Shah had arrived in the afternoon at Begumpet airport and took a chopper to Munugode to participate in the public meeting.

The BJP turned the programme into a show of strength after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao held a public meeting Saturday evening, political observers said. Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar who is on his third phase of Praja Sangram Yatra took a short break and joined Shah at the public meeting.

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Shah told the cheering crowd that if Raj Gopal Reddy wins from Munugode, it will herald the downfall of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti government of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. “If Raj Gopal Reddy wins, KCR’s corrupt government will fall in the coming elections,’’ Shah said. The Union minister accused the Telangana chief minister of being afraid of the AIMIM.

Ahead of Shah’s visit, Congress workers had put up banners questioning the rise in LPG and fuel prices. Reacting to TRS’s accusations, Amit Shah said that the Modi government had reduced prices of petrol twice but the Telangana government did not reduce VAT on petrol owing to which the prices continue to be high in the state. “Today, Raj Gopal Reddy joining the BJP is the beginning of the end of KCR. TRS promised to celebrate Telangana Liberation Day in September but KCR did not fulfil this promise out of fear of AIMIM,’’ Shah said.

In the afternoon, when Shah arrived at Begumpet airport, a few farmer leaders met him to request that water and power meters should not be put at agriculture farms.

After addressing the public meeting at Munugode, Shah reached Hyderabad. He was supposed to have a stopover at Ramoji Film City but skipped it owing to delay in his schedule, and directly drove to a top hotel in Hitec City where he met several prominent persons including Tollywood actor NTR Junior. Shah separately held meetings with party leaders and workers tasked with formulating a strategy to win in Munugode constituency. He also reportedly held a meeting to discuss the deputation of several central BJP leaders to Munugode to bolster the party’s chances.

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