Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s national general secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar is inarguably the party’s crowd puller and in this election, he is contesting from Karimnagar which he also represents as MP. He lost the Assembly polls in 2018 from the same constituency and is determined to change the script now, he tells V. Geetanath, in this exclusive interview, amid his busy campaign schedule.
You have been busy campaigning in Karimnagar and other places across Telangana over the past few days. What kind of response have you been receiving?
I am really astonished by the public reception. It reminds me of the response our party got during the bye-elections held at Dubbak, Huzurabad and Munugode Assembly constituencies when I was the State BJP president, and also during the GHMC election, when everyone said we will a few seats here and there but we won massively. People feel I have fought against the government on their behalf on various issues. I got 74 cases slapped against me and even went to jail for public causes. Not a single accusation against me has been proved, so people are coming out voluntarily to support me.
What issues are resonating with the public during the current election campaign?
The BRS government’s failed promises, their dynastic rule, corruption and joining hands with the Majlis Party. Farmers feel cheated due to non-implementation of loan waiver and under-cutting of price during weighing at the procurement site. The double bedrooms have remained an elusive dream and the unemployed are angry over the TSPSC exam paper leaks. Fuel prices, power charges and RTC ticket fare have been increased, badly hitting the common man. Where is the 24-hour power supply?
During my ‘padayatras’ (walkathons) across the districts, I got to see first-hand the problems of the poor – they long for proper housing, education and public health services. But this government did not recruit a single teacher. School infrastructure is bad too. Healthcare standards, too, are poor with a lack of doctors and inadequate facilities. Hence, we have promised free healthcare and education for the poor if elected to power.
Why do you think the Telangana sentiment will not work this time?
When Telangana Rashtra Samithi has become Bharat Rashtra Samithi, where is the question of sentiment? Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao went to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and had a fish dish, following which he talked about developing Rayalaseema and mortgaged the interest of Telangana on sharing of the Krishna river waters. He chose to keep mum on the irrigation projects being constructed in A.P. till the tenders stage. He has lost the right to talk about Telangana.
How are you convincing people that BJP is the right alternative?
Telangana is in deep debt and only a double engine government can help it tide over the crises. It will ensure employees are paid salaries on time, they get promotions and that it will also take up other schemes. Everyone knows about the cracks and submergence of motors in the Kaleshwaram project; there is a high interest payment on loans taken with not a single acre getting benefitted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails from a poor background and has been doing well with his social welfare and development schemes. Our promise to make a BC the Chief Minister has been received well. So has the commitment to SC categorisation. About 60 lakh youth are comparing Modi rule with the KCR government. Electing the Congress party will only lead to more corruption and fiscal crises. There is no guarantee that their MLAs will not jump to BRS post elections.
Everyone is of the opinion that your party has run out of steam after you were removed as the State party president by the central leadership?
It is not like that. We are an ideology-based party with a dedicated cadre and it is not for a single person. We are not for personality-based politics. Whoever the central leadership feels fit to lead, we will adhere by the decision. Our cadre has been showing the same enthusiasm and energy during the campaign as ever before.
Are you going to be the Chief Ministerial candidate if the party is elected to power ?
Our party does not depend on one person. The winning MLAs and the central leadership will decide who the Chief Minister will be when we win the elections. With the promise of making a BC as CM, Mr.Modi has given confidence to the people. No one expected us to win the bypolls or so many divisions of GHMC. [Likewise], we are going to get a majority and form a stable government in Telangana.
