Is approach, poach, absorb the BJP's mantra to gain numbers in Telangana?

Leaders of the TRS and the Congress have accused the BJP of attempting to trick their leaders into joining their party.

2019 is a grand affair for the BJP not just at the national level with the Lok Sabha elections but also at the state level like in the case of Telangana. Eyes set on gaining ground and making inroads in Telangana, the BJP is devising a two-point plan.

On one hand, the BJP is looking to strengthen its grassroots level organizational structure. Despite the support of a strong ally like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the BJP has decided to contest the 2019 assembly elections independently to shrug off the "Andhra Pradesh only" image of the TDP. With senior leaders being assigned the task of ensuring organization building and winning constituencies, the saffron party is hoping to create an alternative to the TRS that is currently in power and is leaving no stones unturned to prove a point.

The BJP wants to take on the incumbent Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government singlehandedly in the 2019 fight for Telangana. The fight is being made obvious with BJP and TRS leaders launching attacks and counter-attacks. The BJP, under the guidance of central party leaders, has been criticising Chandrasekhar Rao government's every move. So much so that the party is not only pushing for "Telangana Liberation day" celebrations but even organized its event on September 17 in Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and TRS MP K Kavita's Nizamabad constituency. Show of strenght was the primary agenda.

The BJP in Telangana has successfully formed booth-level committees in about 27,000 out of the total 32,000 polling stations across the state. The grassroots work to strengthen the party has already begun ahead of the 2019 general elections. Keeping its numbers realistic, the BJP, that currently has five seats in Telangana assembly, is confident of 35 strong candidates for the 2019 elections.

The BJP hopes to put up at least 35 legislators in the 119-member Telangana assembly in 2019. While the party is yet to find strong leaders for other constituencies, heavy lobbying to poach leaders from other parties are also underway. The BJP and its leaders have openly welcomed any leader willing to join it. "Ram Madhav's statement about the BJP"s doors being open for good people makes it clear that there are no good people in BJP and hence they are inviting people from outside. No one would want to join BJP in the state," said TRS MLC Karne Prabhakar.

In the recent cabinet reshuffle, Narendra Modi dropped the lone MP from Telangana, Bandaru Dattatreya, from the council of ministers. The move came as a massive disappointment to the state cadre. But in a masterstroke of sorts, Nirmala Sitharaman, a "daughter-in-law" of the region, was made the Defence Minister. While the connect is to Andhra Pradesh, Sitharaman's induction came as solace to BJP supporters in Telangana.

OneIndia News