Amid the escalated war of words between the TRS and the BJP, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday skipped Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city. KCR, as the Chief Minister is also known, said he was unwell and hence couldn't make it.

The absence irked the saffron party which said KCR failed to follow the protocol and alleged that amounted to insulting the Prime Minister.

Modi was here for about seven hours to dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th century saint Sri Ramanujacharya and also to kickstart the 50th anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT.
During his visit to ICRISAT, Modi was seen plucking chickpeas in one of the farms and munching on them. He offered special prayers in Yagna Shala at Ramanujacharya statue and received blessings from pundits.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were among those who received Modi at the airport. Sources at Pragati Bhavan, KCR's official residence told PTI that the Chief Minister was suffering from fever.

The sources had indicated that KCR might participate in Sri Ramanujacharya programme. However, he was not seen on the dais. A communication from the CMO had said Talasani Srinivas Yadav is nominated as the Minister-in-Waiting to receive and see off the Prime Minister during the latter's visit to the city today.

Meanwhile, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar took exception to KCR's absence and said it was a shame on the part of him.

It is much evident that the Chief Minister does not want to show his face to the Prime Minister as the entire country was abhorring his filthy abuses hurled at the latter, he said.

Mr KCR, Is this your culture? You claim to have read 80,000 books. Is it what you have learnt from them? he asked. Noting that insulting the Prime Minister amounted to insulting the entire nation, Sanjay Kumar said KCR was obviously afraid of facing Modi after hurling so many abuses. His behaviour was an affront to the nation, he said.

Of late, the BJP and TRS have constantly been engaged in verbal duels. The regional party alleged that the Centre refused to buy paddy from Telangana while the BJP rubbished the allegations. Bandi Sanjay was recently arrested when he was undertaking a Deeksha at his office in Karimnagar protesting against an order pertaining to government employees. The incident sparked off widespread protests by BJP workers and the Karimnagar MP lodged a complaint with Lok Sabha Secretariat against senior police and other officials alleging highhandedness in his arrest. Describing the Union Budget 2022-23 as a 'golmaal' budget that disappointed farmers, workers and common people, KCR recently claimed it was a betrayal of the people. Alleging that both Congress and BJP have failed to make the country realise its potential, KCR had said he would make efforts towards bringing about what he called qualitative change.

TRS working president and Minister KT Rama Rao, in a press release, said netizens were asking Modi where Equality For Telangana was. The hashtag #EqualityForTelangana saw more than 20,000 tweets within a few hours, hed said.