Damage Control: BJP might make Bandi Union Minister; Kishen Reddy may lead party in TS polls

Hyderabad: With only a few months left for the Telangana State Assembly elections, the BJP top brass might be headed for a split.

BJP state president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay, who has been spearheading the saffron party in Telangana, is likely to get elevated to a Union Minister of State, if sources are to be believed. Union minister for Tourism, Culture and development of North East and BJP’s face for Secunderabad constituency, G Kishen Reddy, is being ‘considered’ to lead the party in the election year.

Well, this political promotion is not a result of Sanjay’s work of holding the party together and putting up a fight against the ruling BRS chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, but damage control. The strategic changes are an attempt to curb the crumbling of BJP leadership in Telangana.

Highly placed sources told NewsMeter that former minister and BJP MLA Etela Rajender and his close associates in BJP are ‘unhappy’ with Bandi Sanjay’s functioning and demanded a change in leadership. Etela’s team include Dubbaka MLA Raghunandhan Rao, Nizamabad MP Aravind Dharmapuri, Karimnagar Zilla Parishad chairman DK Aruna, new entrant Raja Gopal Reddy and their supporters. The trouble has been brewing for over a year.

Speaking to NewsMeter, former MLC and ex-BJP Hyderabad president Ramachandra Rao said, “The matter turns out to be ego and adjustability. Team Etela Rajender is unhappy with the way Sanjay functions as BJP state president. He doesn’t consult senior leaders before holding meetings and even takes party decisions on his own. Even old-timers are being left out. Complaints have been reaching the High Command ears for over a year now. Now a proposal has been put forward to replace the BJP state president. Earlier there was a proposal to replace Sanjay with Etela. However, the party was not convinced. As Etela, though a senior leader, is still a newcomer to the party and handing over the mantle to him will disappoint other old-timers.”

The names of minister G Kishen Reddy, senior leader DK Aruna and former MLC Ramachandra Rao have surfaced to lead the party in the state. “Kishen Reddy, though was considered, is not keen to take up the job especially when elections are around the corner. He hasn’t shown much interest in the proposal,” added a source.

However, Team Banjay Sanjay, who is being backed by former MP Jitender Reddy, media baron MP Vivek, and Gunde Vijaya Rama Rao want him to continue and they see him taking on the opposition.

The storm in BJP has given an advantage to BRS and Congress, who are gearing up for the big fat elections. The spilt in the BJP is a blessing in disguise to the opposition.

The high command while appointing its face in Telangana will also look at the social equation. Will it be a Reddy or someone from the Other Backward Caste? “Etela has earlier lobbied to be the president. However, the party was numb about it. Since the position comes with greater responsibility, this decision is surely a tough one,” added Ramachandra Rao.

Will Etela be the Election Campaign chief?

According to sources in his office, “BJP party wants to strengthen its base in Telangana and they are going to get Rajender more involved. He will be a part of the election committee taking major decisions and guiding the party.”

This order is expected to be released in the next two days. It may be recalled that Etela Rajender was called to New Delhi to meet union home minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the BJP.

The crux of their discussion was how the party must be strengthened in Telangana. Etela has been from time to time giving his inputs to the central BJP team on the factors that will have an impact on Telangana.