Support For Terror Is A Bad Game, Avoid Indulging In It, Says Rajnath Singh

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told a crowd in Maheshwaram, in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana, that “supporting terrorism was a bad game” and that “everyone should oppose terror” and “avoid indulging in this game.” But he did talk about how the Indian government responded strongly to the terror attacks in Pulwama and how the Modi government is taking a strong stance against terror. He didn’t talk about the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. As soon as Hamas attacked Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first heads of government to show support for the country. In its working committee, the Congress also stressed the need for a political solution to the Israel-Palestine problem, but it didn’t name Hamas in its statement.

In Maheshwaram, he chose to talk about terror. In Huzurabad, a very close bypoll was held after sitting MLA Eatala Rajender quit the Bharatha Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to join the BJP in 2020. This is where Mr. Singh chose to start his campaign for the Telangana Assembly elections and launch a scathing attack on the BRS over corruption and the Delhi excise case.

The BJP hasn’t named its candidates for the Telangana Assembly elections yet—the Central Election Committee is expected to meet on October 19—but Mr. Singh still worked hard for Mr. Rajender, who is in charge of the BJP’s election management committee.

You can hear about the crooked BRS government in both Telangana and Delhi, and Mr. Singh said, “There is no smoke without fire.” He was referring to the Delhi excise policy scam and the accusations against BRS MLC K. Kavitha, but he didn’t name either one.

Slams ‘family rule’

The “family rule” of the K. Chandrashekhar Rao government was also criticized by Mr. Singh. There was nothing inherently wrong with family members getting involved in politics, he said, “but the way the KCR family is using political influence and running interference, it amounts to abuse of power leading to corruption.” People in the State want the Telangana government to follow the “State first, nation first” policy, but the Defense Minister said that the BRS government was all about “family first.” “Telangana’s government is not only limited, it is also privately limited,” he said.

This is why Mr. Rajender quit the BRS government, Mr. Singh said, even though Mr. Rajender was a Minister. He said that Mr. Rajender should be praised for beating the BRS in the 2021 Huzurabad by-election, “even though the BRS had tried everything like throwing money at the voters to beat him.”

He said that the BRS wasn’t the only one to blame for the creation of the separate state of Telangana. He said, “The BJP was a big part of that demand. But when it came time to split Telangana and Andhra Pradesh into two separate states, the Congress made a mess that the people of the State are still having to deal with.”

Ads of Andala Sriramulu Yadav and Mr. Singh can be seen all over the ground of the public gathering in Maheshwaram, which is in the Ranga Reddy district. In 2018, Mr. Yadav ran for the post as a BJP candidate, and he hopes to do the same this time. “It’s true that tickets haven’t been given out yet, but everyone understands,” said one fan. The BJP leadership in Delhi may not know this. As is usual for the Yadav community in the area during Dasara, a goat was given to Mr. Singh.

Even though he was confused about being given a goat, Mr. Singh was not afraid to criticize the BRS government for corruption, family rule, and what he called the “betrayal” of the State by breaking vows to provide jobs and homes.

“What did you do for Telangana?” Telangana hasn’t changed much, maybe except for Hyderabad. “This is the fault of only one group—BRS and State Chief Minister KCR,” he said.

He compared the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on welfare programs run by the Modi government. He said that cutting out the middlemen was a sign that the government was trying to set up systems “because systems get rid of corruption.”