Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLC K Kavitha on Wednesday criticised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for asking the District Collector of Nizamabad to put up photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside provision shop. The TRS leader asserted that the images of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi were never displayed outside any provision stores.
She also said that in the country's history, Prime Ministers' photos were never put up outside PDS (Public Distribution System) shops. "No one has had their pictures put up in Nehru, Manmohan Singh or even Vajpayee's times," she said, addressing a crowd in Nizamabad after the distribution of Aasara pensions.
However, while agreeing the demands of Sitharaman to put up the PM photos, former Nizamabad MP said that the images will be displayed on LPG cylinders, petrol and diesel stations, etc
Also read | Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao Reviews Developmental Works In Hyderabad
"Telangana welcomed the visiting Union Finance Minister. She should have come, and we enjoy having guests. She visited the ration shop. However, she forced the District Collector to put up Prime Minister's photographs at a ration shop," said Kavitha.
"Sitharaman ji, if you want the Prime Minister's pictures to be put up, we will surely do so. We will put them up on gas cylinders, packets of urea, petrol and diesel stations, and oil and dal packets. Wherever the costs rise, we will put pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she added.
Earlier, on her visit to Telangana, Sitharaman demanded that PM Modi's images be displayed outside the PDS centres. TRS leaders criticised her demand.
In a statement released on Sunday, Harish Rao questioned Nirmala Sitharaman about whether Modi had ever done the same for Manmohan Singh at a provisional store while he was the chief minister of Gujarat. He questioned her to explain why the Centre is putting pressure on the state governments in this regard.
Also read | Thrissur, Nilambur In Kerala & Telangana's Warangal Join UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities