Stiff competition for Telangana BJP chief post, to be filled by weekend

A team of observers led by BJP national general secretary Anil Jain came to Hyderabad on Monday to seek the opinion of senior party leaders.

At least half a dozen leaders are in the race for the post of president for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Telangana unit as the BJP started the exercise to choose one on Monday.

Dr K Laxman is looking to retain the Telangana BJP president’s post for a second term. (@drlaxmanbjp/Twitter)

A team of observers led by BJP national general secretary Anil Jain came to Hyderabad on Monday to seek the opinion of senior party leaders, including core committee members of the party on the appointment of a suitable candidate for the post.

A party leader familiar with the development said Jain and others spoke to around 30 leaders, including Telangana BJP president Dr K Laxman, Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy, Adilabad lawmaker Soyam Bapu Rao and others.

“At least half a dozen aspirants, who staked claims for the Telangana BJP chief post, presented their strengths to the party observers. Everything went on smoothly and there were no issues from anybody,” the party leader said, adding that the BJP’s central leadership would take a call most probably by this weekend.

The name of BJP national secretary P Muralidhar Rao is also said to be under consideration for the Telangana unit president post, the leader quoted above said.

The BJP is looking at Telangana as a potential state where it has chances of emerging as a strong alternative to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the next assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2023.

While the Congress party is still facing a leadership crisis, the BJP, which had surprisingly won four parliamentary seats in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, sees an opportunity to grow in strength.

“In the recent municipal elections, the BJP performed well and stood second in the total number of divisions won in as many as nine corporations, while the Congress party has been unseated from the second position. The BJP will rise as a clear alternative to TRS in Telangana,” BJP spokesperson K Krishnasagar Rao said.

In an attempt to step up its efforts to gain ground in the state, the BJP is planning to hold a massive rally in Hyderabad in the second week of March in support the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The rally will be addressed by former BJP national president and present Union home minister Amit Shah, besides top leaders from the Centre including party president JP Nadda.

“This will rejuvenate the party in the coming days. Our focus first is to capture as many divisions as possible in the forthcoming elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and then expand our network to rest of the state,” the party leader quoted above said.