Suspense prevails over the attendance of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Telangana chief minister Ok Chandrasekhar Rao at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official programmes at Warangal on Saturday, regardless of the Centre extending an official invitation to him for the occasion.

Newly-appointed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president and Union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy advised reporters in Hyderabad on Thursday that the Centre invited the chief minister to the Prime Minister’s programmes at Warangal. “We have given an invitation. If he comes or not, it is up to him,” Reddy stated.

As per the official itinerary, the Prime Minister might be touchdown at Hakimpet airport in Hyderabad at round 9.45 am on July 8, from the place he might be flying to Warangal to put the inspiration stones for a number of essential infrastructure growth tasks in Telangana value round ₹6,100 crore.

They embody nationwide freeway tasks value over ₹5,550 crore and work to improve the 68-km-long Karimnagar–Warangal part of NH-563 from present two lanes to a four-lane configuration. Modi may even lay the inspiration stone of the railway manufacturing unit in Kazipet.

After addressing a public rally at Warangal, the Prime Minister would return to Hakimpet, from the place he can be flying to Rajasthan.

Chief minister KCR has been avoiding going through Modi for practically two years and dishonouring the protocol through the latter’s visits to Telangana since February 2022 .

In the previous, he has designated a senior minister from Hyderabad, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, as minister-in-waiting to obtain and see off the Prime Minister.

However, this time, there was no such official communication from the chief minister’s workplace but on whether or not KCR will depute Yadav to obtain and see off the Prime Minister at Hakimpet airport once more or he would comply with the protocol, apart from attending the official programmes of Modi at Warangal.

“So far, there is no message from the chief minister. He may take a call on attending the PM’s programmes at the last moment also. We hope there will be some clarity by Friday evening,” a BRS functionary aware of the developments within the CMO stated.

The final time KCR met the Prime Minister in New Delhi was in September 2021. After the BRS misplaced the by-election to the Huzurabad seat on October 21, he has been adopting a confrontationist stand in opposition to the BJP.

Since then, KCR has been avoiding attending the Prime Minister’s official programmes, giving a go-bye to the protocol. Whenever Modi got here to Hyderabad on February 5, 2022, to inaugurate the Statue of Equality on the outskirts of Hyderabad, KCR skipped the occasion on well being grounds.

Subsequently, Modi got here to Telangana 4 instances, 3 times on official programmes and as soon as for BJP nationwide government assembly, however KCR refused to satisfy him.

Moreover, each time the Prime Minister got here to Telangana, the BRS leaders indulged in a poster struggle, posing a number of inquiries to him on the Centre’s alleged lack of cooperation for the event of Telangana.

However, within the current previous, KCR has been adopting a comfortable stand in direction of the BJP and focussing extra on attacking the Congress.

At the identical time, the Centre has not been pursuing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the alleged function of KCR’s daughter Ok Kavitha within the Delhi liquor coverage rip-off.

This led to the discuss within the political circles that KCR might need entered into some form of understanding with the BJP nationwide management, and he may even attend the Prime Minister’s programmes in Warangal. “There is no surprise if the chief minister suddenly decides to attend Modi’s programmes,” the BRS functionary quoted above stated.