Hyderabad: Going by the political leaders he has met by appointment recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides to give appointments to those he likes irrespective of the status of the leaders seeking the appointment. Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his son I-T minister K.T. Rama Rao were able to get appointments with Mr Modi within 10 days of each other — Mr Rao on June 15 and Mr Rama Rao on June 27.
But Mr Modi has thrice failed to give an appointment to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Even when AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was an ally of the BJP, he was made to wait a year for an appointment, as Mr Naidu keeps reminding the media. On Thursday, Mr Modi rejected a request for an appointment by Telugu Desam MPs after they had met Union steel minister Birendra Singh on Wednesday to discuss the steel plant at Kadapa. TD MPs said that Mr Singh informed them that the Prime Minister has to take a decision on this issue. They wanted to submit a memorandum on the steel plant, but got short shrift.
The fact that Mr Chandrasekhar Rao got an appointment with the PM easily has raised speculations that his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the BJP have a secret pact, and that Mr Rao’s proposed federal front is actually to save Mr Modi in the coming elections. In the recent NITI Aayog meeting Mr Rao was seen in the company of BJP and NDA Chief Ministers, lending further credence to the theory of a secret pact. Yet another frequent visitor is Opposition leader in the AP Assembly and YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has met the Prime Minister more often than Mr Naidu has in the last four years. This too has fuelled rumours that the YSRC is sailing with the BJP.
