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KTR packs fiery punches during GHMC poll campaign

From hard-hitting questions to fiery punch lines, TRS working president KT Rama Rao was undoubtedly a cut above the rest when it came to the GHMC campaign.

By Telangana Today

Updated On - 1 December 2020, 12:19 AM

KTR packs fiery punches during GHMC poll campaign — KTR (File Photo)

Hyderabad: The city was quiet on Monday. However, as the political think tanks sat back and prepared for the next leg of the GHMC elections after over two weeks of frenzied campaigning, social media was still agog over the statements, claims and punch lines that were heard during the campaign.

And there, the most discussed ones were, of course, from the man who led the TRS juggernaut with road shows that were more of festive in nature and celebratory of the city’s true spirit rather than being full of bitterness, communal and divisive statements that characterised some other campaigns.

From hard-hitting questions to fiery punch lines, TRS working president KT Rama Rao was undoubtedly a cut above the rest when it came to the GHMC campaign, with a national party (or ‘Delhi party’ as Rama Rao called it) like the BJP forced to pull out every arrow from its quiver to counter what Rama Rao called a ‘galli party’.

The Congress, it appeared, had thrown in the towel much before the match began, with no national leader coming in or even the campaign itself being heard about much. The MIM, on the other hand, while trying to counter the TRS foray into its strongholds had the odd controversial statement from Akbaruddin Owaisi.

Rama Rao, on the other hand, made it a point in every speech to list out what the TRS had done, was doing and would do for the city, all the while scuttling every attempt of the BJP to divert the poll narrative from one of development to one of communal divisiveness.
“This is not Ahmedabad where the people will believe all that you say. This is Hushaar Hyderabad,” was one of the first, as he tore apart what he called the BJP’s designs to rupture the secular fabric of Hyderabad.

There were more, as he reiterated that people would have to choose between divisive politics and decisive policies and said the fight was between a gully party and a Delhi party. “Do you want a Gully Boy or a Delhi Boy?” he asked the crowd everywhere, apart from asking them to choose between “the pucca local galli party, or the kirkiri Congress or the lolli Delhi party.”
Another favourite which the crowd loved was “Gujarat ghulamlu kavala ledha Hyderabadi Gulabi kavala?” (Do you want Gujarat slaves or the Rose of Hyderabad?)

A more serious one targeted the empty promises and divisive statements of the opposition, saying “Vishayam leni vallu, visham chimmutunnaru” (Those who lack content are spewing venom).

The same divisive statements were attacked with the statement that the TRS slogan was ‘vishwanagaram’ (global city) while the BJP’s was ‘vidwesha nagaram’ (city of hate).
A frequent punch line that had the crowd applauding loud was the one targeted at BJP State president Bandi Sanjay, saying there was this recent entrant into politics, who was going around promising “illu pothe illu free, caru pothe caru free, bike pothe bike free, manishi pothe manishi free” (a house free, if you lose a house; a car free, if you lose a car; a bike free, if a bike is lost; and a human free, if you lose a human.)