New Delhi | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday claimed the prime minister has "openly accepted" what he had said at a rally last month that the BRS means "BJP Rishtedaar Samiti", after Narendra Modi stated that he had rejected Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's request to join the NDA.
Gandhi also alleged that the "partnership" between the BJP and BRS has "destroyed" the state.
Addressing a rally in Telangana's Nizamabad, Prime Minister Modi said he had rejected a request of BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister Rao to join the NDA, after the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections in 2020, citing his "deeds".
Reacting to the remarks, Gandhi posted on X, "Today Modi ji openly accepted what I had said – BRS means BJP Rishtedaar Samiti." The BJP-BRS partnership has "destroyed" Telangana in the last 10 years, he said.
"People are intelligent and have understood their game. This time they will reject both of them and form a Congress government of six guarantees," the former Congress chief said.
Speaking at the rally, Modi said that before the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, Rao used to come to the airport to receive him with fanfare and show a lot of respect.
"But, why did it stop suddenly... Why so much anger suddenly? The reason for that is, after the Hyderabad polls, he came to Delhi to meet me. He gave a beautiful shawl and honoured me. He showed so much love that it was not in the character of KCR," Modi said.
"Then, he told me that the country is progressing under your leadership. We also want to be part of the NDA. Make us part of the NDA. I said what next? Support us in the Hyderabad municipal corporation. I told KCR, your deeds are such that Modi cannot join you," the prime minister said.
Modi said he had "rejected the entry of KCR into NDA" even if it meant the BJP sitting in opposition in GHMC.
On September 17, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, addressing a rally near Hyderabad, had dubbed the BRS as 'BJP Rishtedar Samithi' and claimed that while opposition leaders were being attacked by government agencies there were no cases against the Telangana chief minister and AIMIM leaders because Prime Minister Modi considers them his own.
Gandhi had said in Telangana that the Congress was not just fighting the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), but also the BJP and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
"They call each other separate parties but they are working together in collusion. I have seen BRS MPs in Lok Sabha. When the BJP needed them, their (BRS) people supported it," he had said and cited the instances of BRS "support" to the BJP on farm laws, GST, and President and Vice President polls.
Whenever the BJP needed its help, the BRS extended support, the former Congress chief had said.