Hyderabad: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday slammed leaders of the opposition parties making remarks on the “north-south” divide in the country and called them “objectionable”.
He made the remarks during an interview with ANI.
When the interviewer further asked about his response to KT Rama Rao’s (KTR) “south is a different country” remark, he replied: “That is why they are sitting at home now.”
He further said that the “country can never be divided now.”
“A tall leader of Congress party spoke about dividing north and south India and the Congress party doesn’t even deny it or separate itself from the statement,” he added.
He also exuded confidence that the the saffron party will emerge as the single largest party “combining the 5 states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka” after the Lok Sabha poll results are out in these states.
Speaking to ANI last week, KTR said ‘North India is a different country altogether.’
“It is a different country altogether. It is a different world. I am not saying it literally but it is practically a different country. I think the issues that are centred here are different than the issues in the South. People here think differently,” KTR had said. “That’s why the BJP is not able to deepen its footprints in the South,” he added.
Speaking on the per capita income, the BRS leader claimed that Telangana is at Rs 357, which is the highest compared to some other states in Northern India.
“We are at 357 in Telangana, Bihar is at 57 and UP is at 87 or something. It’s a fact that it’s a different country. It’s the fault of the governments that they are not able to provide good administration. Their priorities were all in the wrong place. They seem to be content with keeping their people backwards and just getting votes by playing on emotions. That’s not the case in the South. We, here focus on big and real issues,” KTR said.
Drawing a comparison of progress and development for the southern states, he said, “Look at Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. The infrastructure, the education and literacy levels, and healthcare parameters. Look at any index. We are far ahead of any other state, especially in the Hindi hinterland.
(With excerpts from ANI)
