Rumblings in Telangana BJP as leaders seek state chief change
For the last few days, the BJP’s Telangana unit has been facing internal wrangling with some senior leaders raising a banner of revolt against state party president Bandi Sanjay
Hyderabad
As the Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to come to terms with the debacle in the just-concluded Karnataka assembly elections, rumblings have surfaced in the party unit in Telangana ahead of the assembly elections in the state, scheduled to be held in another six months.
For the last few days, the BJP’s Telangana unit has been facing internal wrangling with some senior leaders raising a banner of revolt against state party president Bandi Sanjay. Though none of these leaders have so far made any statement openly against Sanjay, they have begun lobbying with the BJP national leadership asking for replacement of Sanjay with another potential leader.
According to a Telangana BJP leader who prefers anonymity, there have been at least half a dozen leaders who have been nurturing the ambition of replacing Sanjay as the state BJP president and eventually projecting themselves as the chief ministerial candidates.
“The most ambitious among them are former MP G Vivek, former MLA from Munugode Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, former minister and present BJP national vice-president DK Aruna and Huzurabad MLA Eatala Rajender. Though Union minister G Kishan Reddy and Rajya Sabha member Dr K Laxman are also equally ambitious, they are disciplined soldiers of the party,” the BJP leader quoted above said.
Of all these leaders, Rajender has been moving his pawns quickly against Sanjay in the last few days. The Huzurabad MLA, who left for New Delhi on Monday, met Union home minster Amit Shah on Tuesday evening, apparently to discuss the developments in the state BJP and press for a change in the leadership.
“Last year, Rajender has been entrusted with the task of luring potential leaders from various parties into the BJP. But he has failed in the task, as there have not been any major defections. Instead of accepting his failure, he is blaming it on Sanjay, saying that the latter is not accepting the demands of the prospective defectors,” the BJP leader said.
For example, Rajender held discussions with former Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and former state minister Jupally Krishna Rao, both of whom had resigned from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) last month and were looking for alternative political platforms.
“Ponguleti has put forth a condition that he should be given a free hand in the selection of candidates for all the 10 seats in Khammam district. Similarly, Jupally also wants party tickets to his followers. How can Sanjay give such an assurance to any leader? Selection of party candidates is done at the time of elections, depending on their strengths and winning chances,” the BJP leader said.
Other leaders – Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, Vivek and former Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy -- have not been much active in the party programmes taken up by Sanjay – whether it was his foot march in the name of “Praja Sangrama Yatra” or “Nirudyoga March” (March of the unemployed).
The BJP leader quoted above said Sanjay had the blessings of the top brass of the party, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who had praised his leadership whenever they came to Hyderabad.
“In fact, BJP national secretary in-charge of Telangana Tarun Chugh made it clear that the party will go to the elections under Sanjay’s leadership. As long as he enjoys the support of top brass, there is no threat to him,” he said.
The BJP leader, however, said it would be difficult for Sanjay to carry the burden single-handedly without the cooperation of other party leaders. “Instead of taking unilateral decisions, he has to take the other seniors into confidence. He cannot completely depend on the national leadership,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sanjay told reporters on Wednesday that there were no differences among the leaders within the party. “There is nothing wrong in Eatala Rajender going to Delhi to meet the national leaders. Anybody can meet the top leaders any time,” he said.
