Rama Krishna Sangem
Telangana BJP leadership has begun preparations for the coming local bodies elections. State unit president N Ramachander Rao started his job with a visit to Karimnagar on October 1, Wednesday. Karimnagar is considered to be heart of Telangana and it is here BJP has some presence for a long time.
Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar represents Karimnqagar Lok Sabha seat. Interestingly, both the ruling Congress and main opposition BRS have suffered a jolt in this belt in the assembly and parliament elections.
Everyone knows that BJP is weak in rural areas, but its recent success in the assembly and parliamentary elections by winning 8 MLAs and 8 MPs has boosted its confidence. Particularly, the party fared well in the North Telangana region – of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar – and some extent in Warangal – old districts – as a surprise to the party leadership. Now it has become a prestigious thing for them to retain their hold in their MP and MLAs seats.
Of the 31 districts and 562 zilla parishad and mandal parishad territorial constituency (ZPTC, MPTC) seats, 12,000 odd gram panchayats and 1 lalkh plus ward members, BJP is aiming to win at least 10 per cent of them all. “We may not win a majority of seats in these local bodies polls, but we will be more than happy, if we can capture at least 50-60 ZPTCs and mandal parishads. If we get more, that’s big bonus,” said a senior BJP leader from Karimnagar district, while talking to Excel India.
Ramachander Rao’s test
For new state president Ramachander Rao, these local polls are a sort of test to his leadership. He has been appointed to the post by the national leadership, though there were many other strong contenders. Now it is up to him to prove that he means business. Sources close to him said that Ramchander, is taking along all groups in the party in selecting candidates for the elections. By beginning his local bodies campaign from Karimnagar, he indicated that BJP is keen on winning in its strongholds.
Talking to media persons in Karimnagar on Wednesday, Ramchander said that BJP would put in maximum efforts to win as many seats as possible. Selection of candidates will be completed much before the election schedule is issued on October 9. The election process is held in two phases for ZPTC and MPPs, three phases for gram panchayats, concluding by November 11. Ramchander and other senior leaders will be touring in their areas to put up a strong fight in the elections.
