The party’s top brass, including Union home minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda, met indignant leaders Etela Rajender and Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy on late Saturday. The BJP top nerve is attempting to put its house in order in the state, ahead of assembly polls in Telangana scheduled for later this year.
The meeting comes amid assumption that both Rajender and Reddy, who switched to BJP from other parties, were revisiting their future in the party.
G Kishan Reddy, the Union minister, who is an MP from Telangana, was also present in the meeting, which was also attended by BL Santhosh, the BJP’s organisational secretary, general secretaries Tarun Chugh and Sunil Bansal.
The BJP is trying hard to come up as a main contender to ruling BRS, and has been looking for persuasive leaders from other parties in the state, including Congress, to join its ranks.
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The sources said that during the meeting, both Rajender and Reddy articulated concerns about BJP’s preparations for the assembly polls and apprehensions about the state leadership.
After the meeting, talking to reporters, both clearly stated the party’s positioning in the current political scenario in Telangana and the need to step up campaign against the ruling BRS.
Rajender and Reddy said they have full faith in Shah and Nadda’s leadership and will take up the cause for the BJP in the state.
Reddy said an impression is being created by the Congress in the state that the BJP is going soft on ruling BRS, and it needs to be countered strongly as anti-BRS vote may go to the Congress.
Meanwhile, both leaders remained in the national capital and didn’t return to Telangana, where JP Nadda held various programmes on Sunday.
The elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held in December. BRS has been in power in the state since it was created in 2014.
At present, BJP has three MLAs in the 119-member Assembly. Out of three, one has been suspended.
In 2019 general elections, BJP made its presence felt in Telangana by winning four of the 17 Lok Sabha seats.
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