Telangana Elections: How BJP Is Trying To Trump BRS, Congress Through OBC Card?

The BJP appears to have drawn inspiration from its approach in Uttar Pradesh, as it prepares to leverage the OBC card to counter the ruling BRS and Congress.

The party plans not only to give tickets to over 50 percent of leaders from the OBC community but has also decided to appoint an OBC leader as the next Chief Minister should they secure power.

In the first list of 52 candidates, the BJP has given tickets to 20 candidates from the backward classes who account for over 50 per cent state electorate. After the ruling BRS and Congress failed to give tickets to many OBCs, the saffron party has decided to field BC candidates in at least 50 per cent constituencies.

The BC leaders in the party expect 40-50 tickets to their communities out of the around 80 general category seats in 119-member Assembly.

Within the party, BC leaders are hoping to secure 40-50 tickets for their communities out of the approximately 80 general category seats in the 119-member Assembly.

They assert that the BJP demonstrates a higher level of commitment to BCs compared to both the BRS and Congress. "Our prime minister is himself a BC and there are 27 ministers from OBC communities in the Union Cabinet. What else is needed to prove our commitment towards the BCs," IANS quoted BJP MLA Eatala Rajender, who is also the party's state election management committee chairman, as saying.

It is also targeting the ruling party, as Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had promised the people of the state of making a Dalit the first Chief Minister of Telangana.

During the Suryapet election rally, Amit Shah characterized BRS as being opposed to Dalits and BCs. He additionally brought attention to KCR's pledges, including the commitment to provide three acres of land to each Dalit family, allocating a budget of Rs 50,000 crore for Scheduled Castes, and setting aside Rs 10,000 crore annually for the welfare of BCs.

The 4 Popular OBC Leaders In Telangana BJP

Bandi Sanjay, the firebrand leader, Dharmapuri Arvind, the MP from Nizamabad, Eatala Rajender and K Laxman, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP's OBC Morcha President, are the four popular OBC leaders in the Telangana BJP.

Bandi Sanjay was the former BJP President and the current MP from Karimnagar. He will be contesting from Karimnagar assembly constituency. In the 2018 polls, he was defeated by Telangana minister Gangula Kamalakar by 14,000 votes.

Eatala Rajender will be taking on KCR in Gajwel constituency. Having involved in the Telangana movement, he seems to be the right candidate to take on the Chief Minister.

Rajender was once a confidante of KCR and was Finance and Health minister in the BRS regime. However, it would not be that easy to become the CM since he joined the party in the recent past.

Dharmapuri Arvind will be contesting from Korutla. He had defeated K Kavitha, the daughter of KCR in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Nizamabad. His father D Srinivas was a PCC chief and minister in Congress governments in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Notably, his brother Sanjay is still with Congress.

Last but not the least, Rajya Sabha member K. Laxman is another prominent BJP leader from the backward classes. He is the national president of BJP's OBC Morcha.

Laxman, who was nominated to the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh last year, previously led the state BJP unit. He had earlier won twice from the Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad, first in 1999 and later in 2014. From 2014 to 2016, Laxman served as the BJP floor leader. Adhering to the party's policy of one person, one post, he relinquished his leadership role in the Assembly in 2016 upon assuming the position of BJP state president.

Moreover, Laxman held the role of general secretary of the BJP in united Andhra Pradesh on two occasions, from 2002 to 2010. He also served as a BJP national secretary. In 2020, he was appointed as the national president of the BJP's OBC Morcha.