As Hyderabad gears up for municipal elections, the BJP has amped up efforts to persuade voters. Over the last week a massive number of heavyweight political leaders have visited the city. The latest entrant to the list will be Home Minister Amit Shah who is slated to visit on Sunday.
Prior to this, party chief JP Nadda had ignored rain and the cold weather to participate in the roadshow from Kothapet to Nagole crossroads on Friday accompanied by Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy, state BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and other leaders. Central ministers Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani , BJP youth wing president Tejasvi Surya and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis have already participated in the saffron party's campaign over the last one week. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also scheduled to campaign for BJP today.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Hyderabad on Sunday and will reportedly be visiting a temple before taking part in a roadshow in Sanath Nagar, Khairatabad and Jubilee Hills constituency. With elections to 150-member GHMC scheduled to be held on December 1, Shah's choice of activities assumes greater significance.
Shah's visit to the Bhagyalakshmi temple that stands adjacent to the Charminar is not the first time that the site has become a topic of debate and discussion recently. And many are interpreting his itinerary as being a nod to the ongoing campaign that has become increasingly polarising.
MoS G Kishan Reddy alleges that there are Rohingyas living in the city who have been added to the voters list. Apart from Rohingyas, there are few Pakistanis living in Hyderabad and the Central government does have a report and have been looking into this issue," he had said recently.
This is not an isolated comment, and other BJP leaders too have hit out at AIMIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi over the allegation.
Days before this, Telangana BJP President Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that once the BJP wins the GHMC polls, "we will conduct a surgical strike in Old City to weed out illegal Rohingyas." He had also announced his intent to conduct the post poll victory march starting from the Bhagyalakshmi temple.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, in the meanwhile, has stated that every single Rohingya refugee that Owaisi "tries to protect will be thrown out".
