A special report on BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh’s visit to the South

He went and conquered their hearts
Enthralls audience by speaking local south Indian languages
From Our Correspondent

Shri Rajnath Singh received a warm welcome at Hyderabad

Bharatiya Janata Party President Shri Rajnath Singh recently was on a three-day visit to southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and also touched Kerala for the first time after he became the party president in January this year. The BJP doesn’t have good numbers to flaunt and impress in these States yet Shri Singh’s visit to all the three States received tumultuous response. If in Andhra Pradesh he fired people’s imagination with his affirmative stand on the issue of separate Telangana State, in Tamil Nadu he blasted Congress and the Left for appeasing minorities. Whereas in Kerala he was overwhelmed by a massive procession carried out by enthusiastic party karyakartas carried out to honour his first visit and also as a show of strength in a State where the BJP is yet to win a seat in Assembly.

Shri Rajnath Singh kicked off his tour to south by reaching Hyderabad on March 18. At the NT Ramarao Airport he was received by a good number of party karyakartas. After visiting the RSS office in the city he went straight to the party office where media persons were waiting for him to address a press conference. Shri Singh fielded myriad questions for some time and then setting the tone of the press conference he himself broached the subject of separate statehood for Telangana and stated that “the State BJP unit had passed resolutions in unequivocal terms supporting the formation of separate Telangana state at its conferences and the central BJP leadership is fully positive on the issue. Blaming the Congress Party and the UPA government for not fulfilling their promise in this regard he added, “The BJP’s next course of action on Telangana issue will be finalised in the national executive meeting to be held in May.”

Replying to questions, the BJP President observed, “There is no need for second States Reorganisation Commission as being demanded by some state Congress leaders if the UPA government takes initiative and introduces a Bill in Parliament. The Congress-led UPA government came to power almost two years back but what prevented it to introduce the Bill in Parliament.”

He accused the Congress of betraying the people of Telangana. Asked about the reasons for his party not responding to UPA sub-committee under Pranab Mukherjee’s chairmanship on Telangana issue, he shot back, “What letter is required when the party’s national president says that his party is for separate Telangana state.”

A group of intellectuals from Telangana region earlier met the BJP President and strongly argued for separate statehood for this backward region saying that creation of separate statehood would only solve the problems of the region and make it flourish. The 20-member intellectual group included Prof. V. Madhusudhan Reddy, Prof. Sridhara Swamy, Prof. Kodandaram, Prof. G. Laxman, Shri Pasham Yadagiri and Shri T. Gopal Rao.

The Presss Conference was followed by a massive karyakarta sammelan organised at the outskirts of Hyderabad city. Shri Rajnath Singh received a thunderous applause when he started his address in Telugu. The karyakartas heard his 40 minutes address with keen interest and Shri Singh touched many significant issues like farmers suicide in Andhra Pradesh, spiraling prices of essential commodities, rising minoritysm and of course the vital issue of Telangana. The moment he mentioned the word Telangana the auditorioum was electrified. Prominent among the others who addressed the gathering were Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the State unit President Shri Indrasen Reddy, Shri Lakshaman and Shri Parkash Javadekar.

The same day Shri Singh left for Chennai where he halted for the night and the next morning he reached Pondicherry. In Pondicherry too he was able to win peoples’ heart by starting his speech in Tamil while addressing a karyakarta sammelan there. He later addressed a press conference here and said terrorists were gaining ground due to “inability of the Centre to contain terrorism.” Apart from political centres, the terrorist forces were attacking cultural and research establishments. The Government had abolished POTA and was “soft” towards terrorism.

He said the prices of essential commodities and petroleum products were rising. When the BJP, under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power for six years, the prices were under control. Now price hikes had become the rule rather than the exception. The increase in service tax from 10 to 12 per cent should be lowered. If the recommendations of the Rangarajan Committee were implemented, there would be a sharp rise in prices.

Shri Singh charged the Centre with appeasing the minorities for votes. The Government was also misusing the CBI. He said bicycles used by the common man were becoming costlier while cars purchased by affluent sections were turning cheap. This was the impact of the budget.

Former Union Minister Shri S. Tirunavukarasar, BJP political affairs in-charge Smt. Lalitha Kumaramangalam, Pondicherry party committee president R. Kesavalu and general secretary Shri M. Visweswaran were present.

BJP President returned to Chennai where he addressed a public meeting attended by many a thousand. Shri Rajnath Singh while addressing the rally made development the party’s main poll plank. Launching the BJP’s election campaign he said the DMK and the AIADMK could not eradicate poverty and unemployment, though they were in power for long. “ Give the BJP a chance. Bring Tamil Nadu to the national mainstream, “ he said. The BJP would also strive for higher quantum of central assistance for the State he promised to the people.

Prominent among those who addressed the meeting were Prabhari for Tamil Nadu Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, national vice president Shri L Ganeshan , election incharge for the State Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, State Unit President Shri CP Radhakrishnan and Shri P. Radhakrishnan.

On 20th March Shri Rajnath Singh met the press in Chennai. Describing the UPA as the “United Platform of Appeasement,” Shri Singh referred to the Centre’s proposal to include in the Foreigners’ Act the provisions of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983, which had been scrapped by the Supreme Court. “It has once again been proved that in its pursuit of vote-bank politics, the Congress has no hesitation to bring even national security under threat,” he said.

Referring to the Kerala Assembly’s resolution urging the Union Government to intervene on “humanitarian grounds” in the case of Abdul Nasir Maudany, an accusssed in Coimbatore blasts, the BJP leader assailed the Congress and the Left for joining hands in this regard. “People of this country are shocked and agitated over this issue as it is nothing but perversion in the name of secularism,” he said.

After the press conference was over he flew to Coimbatore. From Coimbatore he went to Pallakad by car and addressed a public meeting scheduled there. Before the public meeting Shri Rajnath Singh was given a warm welcome at Palakkad when thousands of party karyakartas took to the streets in a procession to welcome the maiden visit of the party president. It was sight to behold when enthusiasm of party karyakartas was at its peak, a rare sight to behold.

While addressing an impressive gathering Shri Rajnath Singh did not forget to start his speech in Malyalam drawing big applause from the local crowd. Shri Singh publicly declared that senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Shri O. Rajagoapal would be the party’s nominee for the Palakkad seat in the assembly elections in Kerala.

Kicking off his party’s campaign for the polls in a rally at Palakkad, Shri Singh asked the party workers to put in their best efforts to ensure that the party made an electoral breakthrough in the State this time. The BJP had emerged as the single largest party in Palakkad municipality in local body elections a few months back.

The three-day visit to the southern States by Shri Rajnth Singh has been immensely successful for three reasons. First, it was successful in clearing the air on certain key issues like Telangana; secondly, it shattered the myth that the BJP was party of north Indians and lastly it had been successful in mobilising party karyakartas and inspiring them to strive for higher goals.