Adilabad (Telangana), March 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at a public meeting in this Telangana town on Monday drew loud cheers and repeated clapping from a huge crowd.

An electrifying atmosphere gripped Indira Priyadarshini Stadium as the audience cheered throughout the nearly half-an-hour-long speech.

People were thronging the venue much before Narendra Modi's arrival.

Some of the BJP supporters were carrying paintings of the Prime Minister.

People from not just the town but villages in Adilabad district had converged at the venue to hear the Prime Minister.

Chants of "Modi Modi" filled the air as soon as PM Modi came on to the stage to address the public meeting, his first after the recent elections to the Telangana Assembly.

Thousands of men and women in this town bordering Maharashtra were excited to see the Prime Minister.

PM Modi waved at the crowd to respond to the loud cheers.

Local BJP leaders said the public meeting infused new enthusiasm and energy among the party cadres ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

A BJP leader said when PM Modi rose to deliver the speech, he was greeted by loud cheers.

There was excitement when the Prime Minister began his speech by greeting the people with a few Telugu words. The venue echoed with the reply of "400 Paar" when PM Modi said "Ab Ki Baar". He also used Telugu words for the slogan, much to the delight of the crowd.

The audience, especially youth, were elated when PM Modi once again used Telugu words to convey that "Modi guarantee means guarantee of fulfilling the guarantees".

The audience responded with enthusiasm when the Prime Minister asked to repeat with him the Telugu words "Nene Modi kutumbam (I am Modi's family)".

Calling 140 crore people of India as his family, he said the entire country is saying I am with PM Modi's family. The choice of Adilabad for the public meeting kept in view the BJP's impressive performance in the region in the recent Assembly elections.

Of the eight Assembly seats the BJP bagged in Telangana, four were from Adilabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Adilabad was one of the four Lok Sabha seats bagged by the BJP in 2019.

Aiming to increase its tally in the forthcoming elections, it selected Adilabad to virtually launch its poll campaign.

As the district has a significant tribal population and the Lok Sabha constituency is reserved for tribals, PM Modi invoked tribal warriors Komaram Bheem and Ramji Gond during his speech.

He also listed the steps taken for the welfare of tribals.

Sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao, whose name was missing from the first list of nine candidates announced by the BJP for Telangana two days ago, also addressed the public meeting along with Union Minister for Tourism and Culture and Telangana unit BJP president, G. Kishan Reddy.

Local BJP legislator Payal Shankar raised the issue of the closure of the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) unit in Adilabad and demanded its re-opening.

He said the unit was providing employment to 6,000 people.

Party flags and banners were put up across the town for PM Modi's programme.

/IANS