Hyderabad:

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday tried to do a balancing act on the issue of division of Andhra Pradesh saying that both Telangana and Seemandhra are equally important for BJP. Though Andhra Pradesh had contributed the highest number of MPs for Congress to come to power at the Centre, Congress ended up creating only hostile atmosphere between the two regions of the state, he said.

Modi was addressing a massive public meeting here, his first campaign rally since his anointment as BJP's poll campaign committee chief. He recalled how NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee created three new states of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh without any hostilities in any region.

The chief minister wondered why a new capital city has not been built for Seemandhra since 2004 when Congress came to power. He said BJP favoured development and growth of cities in Seemandhra even better than Hyderabad.

Observing that Telugu-speaking people lived in perfect harmony in Gujarat cities like Surat and Ahmedabad, he questioned why Seemahdhra and Telangana cannot live in peace and without animosity towards each other.

The Congress' decision to carve out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh has sparked protests in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseems regions with proponents of united Andhra Pradesh have been holding strident protests to oppose creation of the separate state.

Modi concluded his speech saying 'Jai Telangana' and 'Jai Seemandhra'. Speaking on the occasion, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu alleged that corruption, price rise, poverty grew by leaps and bounds in the country during Congress rule.

"With Congress' popularity on the wane and other major parties like Left and Janata Dal reduced to splinters, it is only BJP that can offer good governance to people and deal with an iron hand against evils like terrorism and communalism," he said.

Showering praise on Modi, he said the Gujarat chief minister had emerged as a personification of dynamism, decisiveness and development and his rising popularity is giving sleepless nights to BJP's rivals.

At the public meeting, Modi took blessings from two senior citizens - a freedom fighter and a woman - who made it a point to attend the rally though the event was mainly meant for youth.

The two senior citizens were invited to the stage where Modi touched their feet. Indrasena Reddy, the freedom fighter, insisted on attending the meeting despite his old age and physical condition, state BJP president G Kishan Reddy said.

Reddy recalled how the decision of the state BJP unit to collect a voluntary contribution of five rupees from those who wanted to attend the rally had triggered a huge debate. He said other major parties in the state spent money to mobilise crowds for their events, but BJP has set a new trend by collecting the contribution meant for Uttarakhand relief.

The contribution amount of Rs 10 lakh was handed over by the state unit to the party's national level functionary Satishji on the occasion.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com/news