Telangana BJP finds itself in awkward situation

Hyderabad: With just three weeks to go for Telangana Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is finding itself in an awkward situation with heads of few committees, including election manifesto committee either crossing over to Congress or staying away from party activities.

The entire process of preparing the poll manifesto went for a toss with chairman of the committee Vivek Venkatswamy himself switching loyalties to the Congress party.

Vivek, who was a member of BJP national executive, joined the Congress party in the presence of Rahul Gandhi in Hyderabad last week. The former MP was Monday named as the Congress candidate from Chennur (SC) constituency.

Vivek was appointed chairman of the 29-member manifesto committee last month. Even the convenor and joint convenor of the panel are not active.

Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, who had quit Congress to join BJP in April, was appointed convenor of the committee. A candidate from Nirmal constituency, he is busy with campaigning.

Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who too had quit Congress to join BJP, was appointed joint convenor of the manifesto committee. The former MP is keeping himself from the party activities for the last few months.

Since the manifesto is considered as a key component of any party’s strategy to win an election, the BJP leaders appear to be clueless as to who is drafting the manifesto. There is also a concern among a section of the party leaders that since Vivek had knowledge of key inputs for the party’s manifesto, this may impact the entire exercise of drafting the manifesto.

A few days before Vivek’s resignation, Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy had also resigned from BJP to return to Congress. He was heading the screening committee of the party.

Raj Gopal Reddy had resigned from Congress to join BJP amid much fanfare in August last year. He had also resigned from his Munugode Assembly seat to force a bypoll. However, he lost the bypoll held in November last year.

The BJP had constituted 14 committees last month to gear up the party for elections. Seen as an exercise to mollify warring groups, the party had appointed both old guard and new entrants as the heads of these panels.

Veteran actor and former MP Vijaya Shanthi was appointed chairperson of the agitation committee. The firebrand leader has been missing from action for the last few months. She stayed away from public meetings addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J. P. Nadda in recent months.

The BJP had named its national vice-president D. K. Aruna as the head of Influencer Outreach committee. The former minister, who had quit Congress to join BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is reported to be contemplating a return to Congress.

The post of chairman of Headquarters Coordination also fell vacant after N. Indrasena Reddy, a former MLA, was appointed Governor of Tripura.

Former MP A.P. Jithendra Reddy, who was appointed chairman of SC Constituencies Coordination committee, is busy campaigning for his son A. P. Mithun Kumar Reddy, who is contesting from the Mahabubnagar constituency.

The BJP, which was once projected as the only viable alternative to BRS, also seems to be lagging in campaigning.

The saffron party was marching aggressively following its win in bypolls for two Assembly seats and its good show in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls. However, the defeat in Karnataka elections dealt a blow to the party’s morale.

Infighting in the party resulting in sacking of Bandi Sanjay Kumar as the party’s state president dealt another blow to the party. 

Currently headed by Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, who is seen as a soft leader by many within the party, BJP is facing a tough task. According to most of the pre-poll surveys, the party is not likely to cross the double-digit mark.