Modi takes a dig at panel over FIR

With the heat and dust settling down in Telangana after Wednesday’s polling in the region, the focus has now shifted to the residuary state of Seemandhra, which will go to polls on May 7.

The BJP-TDP combine launched its joint campaign from the temple town of Tirupati on Wednesday with the saffron party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu sharing the dais at a public meeting.

Unlike their campaigns in Telangana, the leaders refrained from playing up the division issue and instead focused on development of Seemandhra.

Modi, smarting under the ignominy of a First Information Report (FIR) being registered against him by Gujarat police for flaunting a small plastic lotus, the party’s election symbol after casting his vote, devoted part of his speech to express his feelings on the issue.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said: “Not a single FIR, even for the smallest of offences like wrong parking, has been registered against me all my life. And today, when I landed here, I was told that an FIR has been registered against me. I will never forget April 30.”

“I can understand if someone points a knife, a pistol or a gun threateningly for an FIR to be registered. But do you know why the FIR was registered against me? Because I showed a lotus to the people,” he said.

Switching on to the campaign mode, Modi assured the gathering that he would strive to make the long Andhra coastline into a ‘gateway to prosperity.’

“The people of Seemandhra have two choices before them — a progressive state by electing the BJP-TDP combine or a ‘Scamandhra’ if they chose others,” he said.

“Telugu people are a determined lot, probably more than the Gujaratis, and it will not be a major task for them to build Seemandra into a model state,” he said, adding a rider that for this to happen, the people should elect the right government not only in the State but at the Centre as well.

Citing the example of Gujarat, the BJP leader said it too faced a similar challenge when it split from Maharashtra. “The commitment of the people and their determination, however, ensured that Gujarat emerges as the number one state in the country,” he said.

Modi, promising to set up port management and marine engineering universities in Seemandhra, urged the youth from the region to take admission at the Petroleum University in Gujarat and return to take charge of development back home. Seemandhra has the potential to emerge as the leading contributor to energy sector of the country, he said.

Meanwhile, former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who is in Seemandhra to canvass for Congress candidates, sought to strike an emotional chord with the people, stating that he was selected to play for India after he scored a century in a match in Machilipatnam. “One person can’t hit Modi into the Indian Ocean. We should all join hands to do it with our votes,” the cricketer-turned-politician said, in response to Congress legislator A Vivekananda Reddy’s suggestion that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate should be dropped in the Indian Ocean with a hit just as Azhar would do with a cricket ball.

Addressing an election rally in Nellore, Azhar, who is the Congress candidate from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur Lok Sabha constituency in Rajasthan, said: “It is the Congress which developed Andhra Pradesh, making it the best example of development.

“I have not come across such development in any other part of the country.”

With Muslims thronging the meeting, Azhar, in an obvious reference to the Gujarat riots more than a decade ago, urged them to fight against injustice using their votes. “Congress is the only party committed to protecting the minorities,” he added.

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