Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar has convened a State executive meeting at the party office at 11 a.m. on Monday. This comes in the backdrop of the volatile political scenario post the Karnataka election results and parleys between the high command and warring groups in New Delhi.
The meeting, to be attended by Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast Region G. Kishan Reddy, Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman, Central leaders Tarun Chugh, Sunil Bansal and Arvind Menon, among others, will review the programmes and discuss the action plan for the month ahead, perhaps till the elections towards the year-end.
There is a lot of discussion among party members on how to take up cudgels against the KCR government with some of the ‘newcomers’ into the party and aligned with former Minister Eatala Rajender seeking a ‘change’ in political strategy and campaign, what with the party being unable to rope in big names from other parties.
The Huzurabad MLA, having vowed to remain with the BJP post his return from the nation’s capital, has not only been seeking a more decisive role but also an assurance of tickets to his followers in both Parliament and Assembly constituencies.
Mr. Sanjay Kumar’s tenure as the party president got over earlier this year, but the Central leadership wants to continue with him at the helm till the elections. The formula mooted to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and others is to hand over the election campaign reigns to Mr. Rajender, according to the party grapevine.
The party is hoping to lure leaders denied tickets in the BRS and Congress to its fold even if the open ‘home coming’ invite of Congress leader Revanth Reddy to both ex-partymen and those who had shifted their allegiance to the saffron party has led to much speculation.
The newcomers as well as party old-timers want the Hindutva issues to be toned down and take up local issues troubling people like corruption, two-bedroom housing scheme for the poor, job recruitment, woes on Dharani revenue portal, farmers’ issues and the likes, to be taken up.
But, they are uneasy about anyone other than a traditional party loyalist given full powers to steer the party ahead of elections even if they do not see eye to eye with the State leadership on issues. That will be like throwing us out of the frying pan, into the fire, they remarked.
