Criticising the BJP for seeking votes with “Jai Bajrangbali” chant, BRS working president and Telangana minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday said here on Saturday that the party has no development to showcase in Karnataka.

With the Assembly elections in Telangana barely six months away, the TRS has already begun its election pitch and Rao on Saturday addressed a public meeting at Mahabubnagar participating in a ground-breaking ceremony of the Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL) for the state’s first gigafactory which will produce lithium cell and battery packs with an ultimate capacity of upto 16GWh and 5GWh.

Addressing the public, he slammed the BJP and the Congress for their failure to initiate development in the state while in power. “In neighbouring Karnataka they (BJP) have done nothing in the past five years to talk about and now they are chanting Jai Bajrangbali and seeking votes. When they have nothing to say they remember the gods,” said KTR taking a dig at the Saffron party’s election campaign in Karnataka.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had said that he was being abused by the Opposition Congress 91 times, Rao said, “Modi insulted former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s 400 times when the price of a LPG cylinder was only Rs 400, but now that the cylinder costs Rs 1,200, should he not be kicked out?”

He pointed out how essential commodities from salt to oil have skyrocketed. He slammed BJP’s state leadership for proclaiming the prime minister as god but Adani was the god of Modi.

He also reminded the people that Congress had been given opportunity 11 times in the past 55 years but did nothing and the party does not deserve any more chance.

Rao said earlier the Palmuru region was known for migration as people wandered in search of jobs and now it refers to irrigation projects under the BRS Government. He also repeatedly endorsed tourism minister and local MLA V Srinivas Goud for his work and his antecedents as an activist in the struggle for statehood during his speech making it clear that the BRS has already kicked off its campaign.

Earlier, the minister recounted how the state secured the project competing with eight states. With an investment of Rs 9,500 crore over a period of 10 years, the facility will create jobs of 4,500 people and indirect employment to similar number of people in a district which was once known for migration in search of jobs. KTR as Rao is popularly known also inaugurated the IT Tower in Mahabubnagar as a part of the state government’s initiative to spread the IT sector beyond Hyderabad.