Rama Krishna Sangem
BJP wants to fill the vacuum created by BRS and grow stronger in Telangana. This is the gist of the two hour long talk of saffron party’s top leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to his party leaders from the State in Hyderabad on December 28, Thursday. Shah tried to instill confidence in BJP leaders by telling them not to get disappointed by just eight MLAs they won here in November 30 assembly elections.
He told them that if BJP won 13.90 per cent of popular votes in assembly elections it will definitely go up by eight to 21 to 30 per cent, depending on the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party’s prospects of coming to power at the Centre for a third term. He asked them to word hard so that they can easily win 8-10 MPs, out of the total 17. After leaving one seat to AIMIM, while Congress must be restricted to 4-5 or BRS 1 or 2 MPs.
As per an internal assessment of the political situation in Telangana, BJP hopes to vastly improve its position in MP elections. This is because of two reasons: Though Congress came to power by securing full majority in the assembly polls, its winning is not evenly spread across the state. For instance, the party fared badly in Malkajgiri where it won last time and failed to win even a single MLA out of the 7 segments. In Hyderabad city too, Congress drew a zero.
Congress, BRS out of race
Congress defeat in three states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – too dented its image as the party in waiting to come to power at the Centre. So, people will naturally judge it a local party and prefer BJP as the choice for Delhi. Likewise, BRS too is not a contender for the national politics, after it lost power in Telangana. Shah is of the view that BRS former CM KCR are unlikely to regain momentum anytime soon.
So, these two parties are almost out of the race for Lok Sabha elections, said Shah. But, this ground situation alone will not help BJP win a majority of MPs in Telangana. He smelled that his party is in a bad condition and there is no coordination or unity among his party leaders, at least at the state level. Shah is believed to have commented that BJP in Telangana looks like a Congress party, as far as groupism is concerned.
Since recently, BJP national leaders are hearing complaints from Telangana BJP leaders against each other. There are vertical and horizontal divisions among them. Vertical divisions refer to the old guards and the new comers, horizontal differences are about caste lines. As there is not absolute unity among the top leaders, naturally the second rung leaders too are divided. Shah is well aware of the situation. He gave a mild warning to them to mend their ways urgently.
Amit Shah sees an opportunity for BJP in North, South and Western Telangana. Besides retaining its present tally of four MPs – Adilabad (ST), Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Secunderabad – the party can easily wrest Malkajgiri, Chevella, Bhongir, Warangal (SC), Peddapalli (SC) and Mahabubnagar seats in Lok Sabha elections. But, the party need strong and good candidates who can put in their best efforts. That’s the challenge for Amit Shah and BJP!
