Ahead of state polls, BJP eyes inroads in Telangana

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the 2023 assembly elections in Telangana, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set in motion the process of expanding its footprint in the state by setting up offices in every district, activating booth in-charges, conducting doorstep surveys and identifying leaders from across castes and parties who can help swing the polls in its favour.

Central leaders will soon begin visiting Telangana to oversee the election campaign that has begun to take shape, a BJP state functionary said, requesting anonymity.

“The chief minister’s (K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR) image has taken a beating owing to his failure in keeping the promises he made and also on account of the family feud,” the leader said.

He added, “Earlier, there was a gulf between the ruling party and the opposition, but with the BJP’s outreach, that difference has now narrowed down.”

On the speculation that leaders from other parties will be inducted into the BJP in the coming months, the leader said, “All anti-KCR forces are now looking at the BJP as an option… They see the party as a serious contender and many leaders have expressed interest in joining the BJP.”

On April 14, Union minister Amit Shah will be present for an ongoing yatra (rally) the state unit president of the BJP,

Sanjay Bandi, started against the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the Telugu state. Shah’s presence is expected to give a fillip to the party’s campaign.

“The yatra has already completed 450km across the state and will be held every month for 20-25 days till the end of this year. Through this yatra, we are bringing to light the failures of the KCR government,” Bandi said. “He made tall promises, from providing one crore jobs to offering two-bedroom flats to the poor, but none of these have been delivered,” Bandi added.

The party will also replicate its social engineering formula and give more representation to people from the scheduled tribes and castes. There are 19 assembly constituencies reserved for SCs and 12 for STs.

The party will, however, consider fielding SC and ST candidates from the general seats as well, depending on the winnability of the candidate, a second leader said.

Although the BJP did not perform well in the 2018 assembly elections, the party is buoyed by the outcome of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, where it emerged as the second-largest party after the TRS, and after winning the assembly bypolls in Dubbaka and Huzurabad in November last year.

While M Raghunandan Rao defeated T Harish Rao, the nephew of the chief minister, to win Dubbaka, the Huzurabad seat was won by E Rajender, a former KCR aide who switched to the BJP. In 2018, the BJP won just 7% of the votes and one seat in the 119-member assembly.

“The GHMC election was a success because of the presence of senior leaders from Delhi. Bhupender Yadav camped in the state for 10 days, JP Nadda and Yogi Adityanath came to campaign, their presence and inputs gave an impetus to the campaign,” said the second leader from the state, requesting not to be named. “We need more inputs from central leaders to help establish the BJP as the only alternative to the TRS.”

The presence of central leaders will also clear the perception that the BJP and the TRS are friendly parties, the second leader said. “Earlier, the TRS had supported the government on some issues in Parliament, so there was a perception that the parties are not allies but have friendly ties. However, after the TRS opposed the farm laws and was with the united opposition when they protested against the suspension of 12 MPs in the Rajya Sabha in December last year, it had become clear that the two will be fighting a pitched battle in 2023,” the second leader added.

CENTRAL LEADERS WILL SOON BEGIN VISITING T’GANA TO OVERSEE THE POLL CAMPAIGN, BJP FUNCTIONARY IN STATE SAID