HYDERABAD: There was a time when chief ministers were falling over each other to greet PM Modi. But, for the second time in as many months, the prime minister was not received at the airport by a state Chief Minister.
It happened last time in January when Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi skipped the customary airport welcome, a faux pas which turned into a major security breach.
This time, the offender is Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who was conspicuously absent during the reception at the airport on Saturday.
Sources at Pragati Bhavan, Rao's official residence, told a wire agency that the chief minister was not well and is down with fever.
However, the Telangana BJP termed the breach of airport protocol as "idiotic and shameful". The party further alleged that KCR has been "regularly insulting the Constitution".
PM Modi was in Hyderabad to dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th century Bhakti saint Sri Ramanujacharya and also to kick-start the 50th anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT.
KRC was rather uncharitable in his remarks recently when he had described the Union Budget as a ‘golmaal budget' which had disappointed farmers, workers and common people. The chief minister was miffed that an arbitration centre for dispute resolution has been proposed to be set up in GIFT City in Gujarat, though such a centre already exists in Hyderabad.
Just days before the Prime Minister's arrival, Chief Minister KCR had made other discordant noises and described the latter as someone who "dresses for elections".
The BJP’s Telangana unit is convinced KCR skipped the airport welcome as he does not have the gumption to face the prime minister after his disparaging remarks. “Mr KCR, is this your culture? You claim to have read 80,000 books. Is this what you have learnt from them?” a BJP functionary asked.
Political observers say KCR has been reaching out to the likes of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray to broaden the front against the BJP. While that was his prerogative, an observer said, the CM needed to adhere to protocol when it came to visits of constitutional functionaries.
