Hyderabad: BJP is planning to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting at Parade Ground in Secunderabad on May 10 a launchpad for its campaign in GHMC and two other civic bodies within Outer Ring Road (ORR), the elections to which are expected to be held later this year.Even BJP central leadership has directed its state leaders to mobilise crowd, mainly women and youth, from the 300 wards of GHMC, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipal corporations, with focus on the 150 wards in GHMC alone. It would be the first public meeting of Narendra Modi in Telangana after taking over as the PM for the third term.Modi is likely to target Congress and chief minister A Revanth Reddy in his speech at the public meeting, for playing a role in rallying various parties to defeat the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, and also opposing the proposed delimitation of constituencies by raising the north-south issue.A senior BJP leader, involved in mobilising crowd for Modi’s public meeting, said: “When Union minister Bandi Sanjay met PM Modi in New Delhi and invited him to Karimnagar, where BJP won the mayor post, Modi favoured a public meeting in Greater Hyderabad rather than a town or district headquarters.”MPs, MLCs, MLAs, senior leaders and ‘prabharis’ (in charges) have been given the task of ensuring that women and youth are mobilised in large numbers from every ward in the city. Special trains are also being planned to mobilise people from the districts, but the focus is mainly the state capital. Motorcycle rallies by youth from every GHMC ward have also been planned.“BJP wants to seek an opportunity to serve the people of Telangana by claiming that both BRS and Congress have failed. We want to emerge as the only alternative in the state with GHMC elections as a stepping stone ahead of assembly elections,” a leader said.BJP state president N Ramchander Rao confirmed to STOI that their “focus is women, youth and SCs, who will be mobilised mainly from the three corporations within the ORR”. “Congress has betrayed the women of this country by defeating the Women’s Reservation Bill,” he added.“The incumbent Congress govt and the previous BRS regime betrayed the youth and SCs. PM Modi’s visit and public meeting will definitely have a positive impact for BJP in the state capital, and will give a major fillip to BJP’s efforts to emerge as the only alternative in Telangana,” Ramchander Rao added.The PM’s public meeting is crucial for the state BJP, as its performance has not been up to the expectations in the bypolls to Secunderabad Cantonment and Jubilee Hills, panchayat and municipal elections, after winning eight Lok Sabha seats in Telangana in 2024. The saffron party won 48 wards of the total 150 in the GHMC elections in 2020, but ended up winning the lone Goshamahal constituency in GHMC area in the 2023 assembly polls.
