India, Dec. 13 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled up Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Telangana over the party's performance in the state, asking them to "shape up" during a meeting with lawmakers from four southern states, people aware of the discussions said.

PM Modi on Thursday met the party's eight lawmakers from Telangana, five from Andhra Pradesh, two from Kerala and one from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. According to an official privy to the meeting, the Prime Minister recalled how the BJP had grown from a party with just two MPs in 1984 to becoming the ruling party.

"He said when we had just two MPs in Parliament, one was from Gujarat (AK Patel) and the other was from then undivided Andhra Pradesh, now Telangana (Cha...