Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Thursday criticized the BJP President Amit Shah for questioning K Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision to go for early elections in the state, and said that he has done the same thing that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi did in the year 2002.

Mr. Shah had criticized the caretaker Chief Minister during a BJP rally in Karimnagar, located 160 km away from Hyderabad, by saying that the decision has burdened the election expenses by hundreds of crores of rupees on the state’s people. The BJP chief said that the normal dates of the Assembly elections were well aligned with the Lok Sabha elections in April-May next year.

Mr. Shah went on to claim that KCR took such a decision because he fears Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said that the Modi factor would have had a good influence over the state elections if he had not went for early polls in the state.

The elections data for Telangana Assembly has been announced to be held on December 7.

The Telangana assembly was dissolved on September 6 after Mr. Rao recommended to the governor after holding a meeting with other important members of his party making the term of the House shorter by nearly nine months.

Karimnagar Lok Sabha member B Vinod Kumar tried to counter Mr. Shah’s claims during his interview with News Agencies.

Mr. Kumar is the deputy flood leader of the TRS party in the Lok Sabha and said that at some or the other point, many leaders like Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rajiv Gandhi, NT Rama Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu had taken a decision to opt for early polls in their states.

“All political parties have gone in for early elections some time or other. Even Modi also. Why did Modi go for early elections in 2002? Modi should answer first. Just like KCR did, he also went for elections in 2002 eight months before the schedule. Why Modi went (for early elections)? That’s the reply for KCR also,” he said.

Mr. Kumar also replied to the charge made by Mr. Shah that KCR made an election promise to make a Dalit the chief minister of the state before the elections of 2014 were held, but he did not fulfilled the promise and now he wants to make his son or the daughter the chief minister of the state.

Mr. Rama Rao held the post of Cabinet minister in the dissolved assembly, while Ms Kavitha is elected as a Lok Sabha member from the district of Nizamabad.

“Amit Shah should know that KCR did not make such a statement in the 2014 elections. He made such a statement during the course of our (Telangana statehood) agitation. At the time of the 2014 elections, we were very clear that KCR would be our chief minister. In 2014, we never said (that a Dalit would be made CM),” Vinod Kumar said.

“Neither a Dalit, nor KTR (as Rama Rao is popularly known) nor Kavitha will be on the agenda because KCR will be elected chief minister once again,” he claimed.

Mr. Kumar termed the charge made by Mr. Shah to be “very unfortunate” that KCR and Congress president Rahul Gandhi are trying to have a ‘break-in-India’, while PM Modi is trying ‘make-in-India’.

“Supporting minorities and speaking for reservations for minorities… does it mean break in India?” he asked.

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