Bandi Sanjay sweats out in sweltering heat to retain saffron party’s hold in political nerve centre of north Telangana

Relying on a carefully crafted campaign strategy, the sitting MP and the BJP candidate from Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, is sweating it out in sweltering heat on the campaign trail to retain the seat and the saffron party’s hold in the political nerve centre of north Telangana.

He takes on the BRS candidate and former MP B. Vinod Kumar and the Congress party’s V. Rajender Rao in the mainly triangular contest. In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Sanjay exudes confidence in his reelection from the Karimnagar seat and a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre. Excerpts from the interview:

BJP could not win a single Assembly seat out of the total seven Assembly segments in Karimnagar Lok Sabha Constituency in the recent Assembly polls. Don’t you think it reflects on your party’s performance and impacts your electoral prospects in this Lok Sabha election?

Our party is an ideology-based party with committed cadres forming the crux of our organisational strength. The BJP’s votes share has increased in the 2023 Assembly elections compared to the 2018 Assembly polls in the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency. My performance as the MP with tangible development, corruption-free governance and all-round development under the decisive leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will propel me on the path of victory.

These are national elections and people have made up their mind to give Mr. Narendra Modi a third term to make India the world’s third largest economy.

Your political opponents allege that you are using the inauguration of Ayodhya Ram Mandir for electoral gain. How do you respond to the allegations by your main rivals in the electoral fray that you have failed to bring either gudi (temple) or badi (school) to the constituency during your last five-year tenure?

The inauguration of Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya in January this year marked the fulfilment of the long cherished dream of crores of Hindus around the world. The allegations against the BJP are baseless and politically motivated. The BRS and Congress candidates are spearheading a misinformation campaign against me realising their imminent defeat at the hustings. Both parties have the dubious distinction of hoodwinking people and playing appeasement politics.

What are your achievements during your tenure as Karimnagar MP in the last five years?

The Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has spent more than ₹12,000 crore for various development works in the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency in the last five years. I have brought a little over ₹5,000 crore funds for road development works, including new roads. These include ₹4,877 crore for the widening of National Highways, ₹219 crore under the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and ₹120 crore under PM Gram Sadak Yojana.

The Centre has sanctioned ₹2,147 crore for four-laning of the Karimnagar-Warangal section of the NH-563 and ₹1,900 crore for widening of the Karimnagar-Jagtial highway following my representations.

The Centre sanctioned approval for the Road Over Bridge (ROB) at Theegalaguttapally in Karimnagar under the CRIF scheme (SETU BANDHAN programme) during 2022-23 at an estimated cost of ₹154.74 crore as per my request.