Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Monday that BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao had offered to join the National Democratic Alliance but he turned Rao down as he did not want to cheat the people of Telangana. Modi also accused the Congress of “taking a contract” from the BRS to split the opposition vote in the state “in return for its help” during the Karnataka assembly election.

Modi assailed the Congress for its latest slogan “Jitna Abadi Utna Haq” while wondering if the party wants to curb the rights of the minorities or the representation of south India in Parliament.

Addressing a public rally in Nizamabad after inaugurating projects worth Rs 8,000 crore, the prime minister slammed the BRS for “looting” central funds meant for development and promised to investigate the party’s corruption if voted to power. Modi also accused the BRS of financially helping the Congress in Karnataka by pumping in money from Telangana.

“The Congress has made a deal with the BRS behind the screen. In the Karnataka election, the BRS had helped Congress considerably. Now the Congress is repaying the debt because in Karnataka, the BRS had used its ‘loot from Telangana’ that enabled their (the Congress’s) win there. This is the game of BRS,” the prime minister alleged.

He also said that earlier KCR used to welcome him to the state with beautiful garlands at the airport, but nowadays skips meeting him. He said the relations between them were good until the Hyderabad civic elections when BJP won 48 seats. Rao had even approached him to be part of the NDA, but since he knew all about his deeds, he turned down the chief minister. “I refused to help him out in any way. I refused to give him an entry in NDA,” Modi said.

Asserting that Rao was avoiding Modi, the prime minister said, “You saw I just attended a government programme. A corrupt person cannot sit beside me and tolerate my body temperature.”

Modi evoked the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who had freed the people of the state from the Nizam’s rule and said another Gujarati son has come to ensure the prosperity of the people.

Slamming the Congress for its slogan “Jitna Abadi Utna Haq” on caste census, the prime minister wondered, “This new thought will be against south India, which has done a good job of controlling its population. It will also put a dagger on the backs of minorities … ‘Jitna Abadi Utna Haq’ means the Congress is trying to create a drama to reduce the number of parliamentary seats in south India.”

It may be noted that the issue of delimitation linked to demography is a raw nerve for entire south India, which Modi seemed to cash in that sentiment in his speech.