Appointments with PM: Some more equal than others

Hyderabad: Going by the political leaders he has met by appointment recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides to give appointments to those he likes irrespective of the status of the leaders seeking the appointment.

Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his son, IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, were able to get appointments with Mr Modi within 10 days of each other — Mr Rao on June 15 and Mr Rama Rao on June 27.

But Mr Modi has thrice failed to give an appointment to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Even when AP chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was an ally of the BJP, he was made to wait a year for an appointment, as Mr Naidu keeps reminding the media.

On Thursday, Mr Modi rejected a request for an appointment by Telugu Desam MPs after they had met Union steel minister Birendra Singh on Wednesday to discuss the steel plant at Kadapa. TD MPs said that Mr Singh informed them that the Prime Minister has to take a decision on this issue. They wanted to submit a memorandum on the steel plant, but got short shrift. The fact that the Mr Chandrasekhar Rao got an appointment with the PM easily has raised speculations that his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the BJP have a secret pact.