Hyderabad, May 23 (IANS): BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday said Telangana should become the gateway for the party in south India.

Addressing a public meeting at Peddadevulapalli village in Nalgonda district on the second day of his three-day visit, he exuded confidence that the BJP will form the government in Telangana in 2019.

Shah said Telangana should become an important part of the development process initiated under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The way Telangana unit of BJP is working for last two years, visiting every village to strengthen the party, I am confident that in 2019 BJP will form the government in Telangana," he said.

Continuing his attack on the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government, he said the schemes launched by the Modi government for the welfare of various sections of people had not reached the people in the state.

Referring to his interaction with villagers, the BJP chief said people were facing problems due to drinking water shortage and widows and elderly persons were not getting pension. 

He said the farmers were suffering as their fields were being destroyed by the chemical factories.

Shah said the Modi government was standing like a rock whenever challenges were arising for the country's security. He claimed that the government boosted the morale of the armed forces by carrying out surgical strikes.

The BJP national president earlier visited Chinna Madaram village and lauded the initiatives taken by the woman sarpanch for implementation of various schemes of the central government.

Stating that the Modi government launched 107 schemes for the welfare of the poor, women, youth and other sections, Shah said if the schemes were properly implemented at the grassroots they could transform people's lives.

Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP state president K. Laxman and other leaders accompanied Amit Shah.