PM-CM, who will get the attention?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Hyderabad on Saturday to review coronavirus vaccine development work at Bharat Biotech facility.

Modi will be arriving at Hakimpet Air Force station in an IAF flight from Pune at around 3.45 pm, and will directly go to Bharat Biotech’s facility at Genome Valley. He will return to the Air Force base and will fly back to New Delhi at around 5.45 pm.

Modi’s visit comes ahead of the GHMC elections. Both the ruling TRS and BJP have locked horns with party leaders unleashing a war of words. The BJP is raking up national issues and invoking “Jinnah” and calling for “surgical strikes” on Hyderabad in its speeches. The saffron party is deploying national leaders like J P Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and several central ministers in its campaign.

The GHMC elections have assumed national hue with both the party leaders intensifying their campaign and unleashing rhetoric. While the BJP is making serious inroads into Telangana fresh from Dubbaka bypoll victory, the pink party is making all attempts to thwart the progress of the saffron party.

While PM is scheduled to visit Hyderabad at 3.45 pm, Chief Minister will be holding a massive meeting at L B Stadium at around the same time raising eyebrows among political observers. The CM meeting is likely to last for two hours and end at around 5.45 pm, around the time the PM will fly back to New Delhi.

A huge turnout is expected for the public meeting. The Chief Minister is likely to talk about future development plans for Hyderabad. Political observers say this is not a coincidence, but a well-planned strategy. The CM’s meeting at 3.45 pm is an attempt to deflect the attention of the public away from the PM’s visit to Hyderabad. By organizing a massive public meeting, KCR wants to steal the show and overshadow the attention PM’s visit is likely to get.