Absence of T’gana BJP leaders from PM’s rally fans speculation
Former MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy has been keeping away from the party activities for quite some time. He told reporters in Hyderabad a couple of days ago that he would take a call soon on whether or not to quit the BJP
Hyderabad
The absence of quite a few senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders at the official event and public rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mahabubnagar on Sunday has become a talking point within the party, people familiar with the matter said.
Some of the seniors who gave a miss to the Prime Minister’s meeting include BJP MP from Adilabad Soyam Bapu Rao, former MPs Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, G Vivek Venkatswamy and M Vijayashanti, former MLAs Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, G Vijayarama Rao and Enugu Ravinder Reddy.
Union minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy and BJP national general secretary Bandi Sanjay were spotted at Modi’s events. Others who were present, included, BJP parliamentary board member G Laxman, BJP national vice president DK Aruna.
A senior Telangana BJP functionary, requesting anonymity, said that the absence of other senior leaders at the Prime Minister’s meeting has definitely sent a wrong signal to the party. “There is a talk in the party that Bapu Rao might switch over to the Congress soon. We tried to contact him today, but he was not accessible to the party; neither were his followers,” he said.
Though former MP G Vivek was present at the airport to receive the Prime Minister, he was not to be seen at the public meeting. The BJP functionary also said, “We were told Vijayashanti (former MP) is suffering from viral fever and hence, she could not make it to the Modi’s meeting. There is no official word from her.”
Former MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy has been keeping away from the party activities for quite some time. He told reporters in Hyderabad a couple of days ago that he would take a call soon on whether or not to quit the BJP.
Since September 24, these disgruntled senior BJP leaders had met at least thrice to discuss the state of affairs in the party. They felt that the party is not able to create confidence among the cadres that the party would come to power, as there is a growing feeling among the people that the BJP had a tacit understanding with the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
“In fact, there is a bit of disappointment among the cadres that the Prime Minister’s speech at the Mahabubnagar rally was not as hard-hitting as they expected. They were hoping that Modi would go all out against KCR and make a strong appeal to the people to pull the BRS down. But he was very brief in his criticism against the KCR government,” the party leader quoted above said.
The BJP state leadership is hoping that some of the leaders who skipped Modi’s meeting would turn up at least at the public rally of the Prime Minister at Nizamabad today. “It they don’t attend the meeting, then it will be a clear signal to the party cadres that they wouldn’t be staying in the party for long,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kishan Reddy flew down to New Delhi following a call from the party national leadership on Monday afternoon. He held an emergency meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the issues pertaining to the state of affairs in the Telangana BJP.
Speaking to reporters later, Kishan Reddy said Shah would be visiting Telangana on October 10. “Before that, BJP national president J P Nadda would be in Hyderabad to address the state executive committee meeting the party to give direction to the party for the upcoming assembly elections,” he said.
He announced that the first list of candidates of the party for the assembly elections would be announced in the second week of October. “We are confident that the Nizamabad rally of the Prime Minister would generate a lot of confidence in the party,” the BJP state president added.