Congress created hostility between Telangana and Seemandhra: Narendra Modi

HYDERABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today tried to do a balancing act on the issue of division of Andhra Pradesh saying that both Telangana and Seemandhra are equally important for BJP.

Though Andhra Pradesh had contributed the highest number of MPs for Congress to come to power at the Centre, Congress ended up creating only hostile atmosphere between the two regions of the state, he said.

Modi was addressing a massive public meeting here, his first campaign rally since his anointment as BJP's poll campaign committee chief.

He recalled how NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee created three new states of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh without any hostilities in any region.

The chief minister wondered why a new capital city has not been built for Seemandhra since 2004 when Congress came to power.

He said BJP favoured development and growth of cities in Seemandhra even better than Hyderabad.

Observing that Telugu-speaking people lived in perfect harmony in Gujarat cities like Surat and Ahmedabad, he questioned why Seemahdhra and Telangana cannot live in peace and without animosity towards each other.

The Congress' decision to carve out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh has sparked protests in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseems regions with proponents of united Andhra Pradesh have been holding strident protests to oppose creation of the separate state.

Modi concluded his speech saying ' Jai Telangana' and ' Jai Seemandhra'.