New Delhi: In an attempt to set its faction-ridden unit in order in poll-bound Telangana, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has constituted 14 election committees, appointing dissident leaders as in-charges, party leaders told ThePrint.
The action is meant to placate the leaders, especially those who skipped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Mahabubnagar on 1 October, and those not making efforts to get involved in party activities, the leaders said.
The committees were announced Thursday, after a BJP state executive committee meeting.
Tasked to oversee various poll-related activities, the panels were named screening committee, agitation committee, chargesheet committee, manifesto committee, coordination committee, public meeting committee, publicity committee, among others.
The leaders who missed the PM’s rally include former MPs Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and G. Vivek Venkatswamy, former actress and MP Vijayashanthi, former MP G. Vijaya Rama Rao and former MLA Enugu Ravinder Reddy.
The BJP’s formation of committees has also been spurred by the impression created among a section of state leaders that the party has an “understanding” with the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in the state.
Elections are due in Telangana in the next two months and the BJP, which is leading the central government, is aiming to dislodge the K. Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS government that has been in power since 2014. The Congress is also in the fray as a key opponent.
Since 24 September, many of the disgruntled leaders have held separate meetings to discuss the future course of action in Telangana, BJP sources told ThePrint, adding that “many leaders believe there is a tacit understanding between the BRS and BJP”.
“This is likely to push the BJP into the third spot in the state. However, PM Modi Sunday (1 October) tried to clear the air by saying the BJP has refused BRS entry into the National Democratic Alliance and that it can’t take a dynastic corrupt party into the fold,” said a source.
According to Vishweshwar Reddy, the impression of a deal between the BJP and the BRS was created “because of expectation that K. Kavitha will be arrested in the Delhi liquor scam”.
BRS leader Kavitha, the daughter of the Telangana CM, is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case.
Reddy also blamed the Congress for putting the idea of a BJP-BRS understanding into the people’s minds. “The PM has tried to clear the confusion but the Congress has been able to put the idea into people’s mind that there is tacit understanding between the two parties,” he told ThePrint.
The BJP has over the last few years inducted several leaders from the BRS as well as the Congress into its Telangana unit. It has also battled intense factionalism in the unit under former state president Bandi Sanjay.
Succumbing to pressure from the anti-Bandi Sanjay lobby, the party in July replaced him with Union minister G. Kishan Reddy. Further, Eatala Rajender, MLA and former minister who had threatened to resign from the BJP if Sanjay was not replaced, was made the chairman of the election management committee.
However, many state leaders were still said to be sulking, despite the changes, and have now been put in charge of these new committees.
“The party is expecting a more cohesive fight against the BRS now,” said the source mentioned earlier.
A senior Telangana BJP leader admitted that the BJP had been “facing different challenges in Telangana and had lost momentum after (defeat in) the Karnataka election”.
“But we have made another attempt to gain the lost space by replacing Sanjay. The more amiable Kishan Reddy was brought in to lead the state unit, Eatala was made chairman of the poll committee, and now we have placated other leaders by handing them different committees. This should bring peace now,” he told ThePrint.
A state vice-president further said that the “Congress was in an advantageous position right now in Telangana”, adding that “the PM’s attack on the BRS (at his rally) will energise the cadre”.
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Who is heading which committee
Actress-turned-politician Vijayashanthi, who was reportedly skipping party programmes for the past few weeks, was made the chairman of the agitation committee — a panel formed for the first time to plan agitations and hold demonstrations before the assembly polls.
Vijayashanthi had first joined the BJP in 1997 and served as general secretary in the women’s wing but quit in 2005, only to rejoin in 2020.
According to BJP sources, she had spoken several times to the party high command about her isolation during Sanjay’s tenure as the Telangana unit chief.
On the day Kishan Reddy took charge of the unit, Vijayashanthi left a meeting midway when she was not given a chance to speak. She later said she left because former chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was opposed to the creation of Telangana, was present there, the sources said.
A second senior BJP leader told ThePrint: “Vijayashanthi is known as lady Amitabh Bachchan in the state and has star value. She fits into the plan for agitational programmes across Telangana and will lead different protests to galvanise the cadre. That is why such a committee has been formed.”
Former BJP national general secretary P. Murlidhar Rao will head the chargesheet committee, which will place a paper in front of the public against the alleged corruption of the BRS government.
Former MLA Rajagopal Reddy, also said to be keeping away from party activities for quite some time, was quoted as saying in the media that he would take a call on quitting the BJP. He was also not present at the PM’s rally. He has been appointed as chairman of the screening committee for the polls.
Vishweshwar Reddy had reportedly said a few months ago that the BJP could not put up a tough fight against the BRS. He was named as convener of the manifesto committee and publicity committee, while Venkatswamy has been appointed chairman of the manifesto committee.
Vijaya Rama Rao was named as convener of SC constituency coordination committee and Sanjay Bandi, who was made BJP national general secretary earlier, was given charge of the public meetings committee.
Further, Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri will lead the social media committee, and BJP’s OBC Morcha chief K. Laxman will head the social outreach committee. Former MLA D.K. Aruna is the chairperson of influencer outreach committee, while Marri Shashidhar Reddy will chair a committee on issues pertaining to the Election Commission.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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