BJP taking advantage of the shrinking base of Congress and anti incumbency against TRS.
Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao, who successfully handled the recent Karnataka political crisis leading to the formation of the of B.S. Yediyurappa government, may be entrusted with the task of strengthening the party unit in Telangana. Sources say that the party national leadership is planning to appoint a new state unit president soon.
BJP is keen on capturing political power in Telangana by the next elections and sees a big opportunity with the shrinking base of Congress and the beginning of anti-incumbency sentiment that is spreading against the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). In a recent meeting with party colleagues, Amit Shah made it clear that Telangana was on top of his agenda in his southern outlook.
Shah was apparently unhappy over the tepid response to the party’s membership drive in both the Telugu speaking states, especially in Telangana. When the state leaders were struggling to cross the one million membership target, Shah told them to go for two million. Shah was also not happy with many seniors losing their seats in the December Assembly elections.
What revived the hopes of the BJP national leadership was the party’s win of four Lok Sabha seats this May and a jump in the percentage of votes from 7% to 19% within five months. This phenomenal jump in BJP’s vote share is attributed to the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the dwindling base of Congress.
The BJP leadership is searching for a leader who can not only inspire the existing cadre but also draw leaders and cadre from other parties and make the party a viable alternative to TRS in the coming months. Keeping this target in view, Secunderabad MP G. Kishan Reddy has been made a Minister of State for Home.
The present state unit president, Dr K. Laxman, 63, is a senior OBC leader in the party and is well-respected by the cadre, but his defeat from the Musheerabad Assembly seat in the December elections has diminished his appeal drastically. He got in touch with several seniors from other parties and urged them to join BJP, but many of them backed out at the last minute, thus bringing doubts over Laxman’s credibility in the party.
Laxman’s inability to poach seniors from other parties is attributed to his inability to assure them of solid positions both in the party and the government, through nominated posts. An assessment in the party is that someone who can talk to the higher ups in Delhi alone can wean away several strongmen from other parties and Muralidhar Rao fits the bill.
Laxman, who took over as BJP state unit president in 2016, is not ready to give up his post now. He is seeking another term, in case any other leader from the state level is considered for the post. But he may relent and make way in case Muralidhar Rao is brought into the slot, sources in the state party unit said. Fondly called “Murali” by his friends within and outside BJP, Rao rose in the ranks of the Sangh Parivar first as an ABVP leader in Osmania University in the 1980s and later as a functionary in the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and then in the BJP since 2014. His stay in thde Delhi office of RSS for several years in the 1990s helped him acquire proximity with the party leadership. Murali who belongs to the forward caste of Velama (to which Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao belongs), had tried several times to contest for Parliament from Telangna but he could not be accommodated, thanks to the presence of another senior C. Vidyasagar Rao (who too belongs to the same community). But now that Rao has been sent as Governor of Maharashtra, Murali’s chances in active politics have brightened.
However Murali said,“Now there is no vacancy for the post of BJP state president or the party general secretary.” Asked about newly elected Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri’s demand that Murali be made BJP state president, the latter refused to comment, saying he didn’t want to talk about internal matters. The situation is optimistic for BJP in Telangana. Several seniors like MLC N. Ramchandra Rao, Bandaru Dattatreya, Aravind and Bandi Sanjay and A.P. Jitendher Reddy are ready to take this post . But odds are in favour of Murali being appointed to the post.