Cadre wary of BJP pick’s ability to take on incumbent

Tirupati: In a bid to reclaim its former citadel Tirupati, where the world-famous Venkateswara Swami temple is located, the BJP is going all out on an improbable dark horse, Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli, a YSRCP turncoat and former bureaucrat who captured the constituency in 2014 before defecting.

While the BJP is betting the 71-year-old Rao's administrative experience can catalyse a revival, with development and the Ayodhya Ram Mandir emerging as potential poll planks, many within the saffron party’s own ranks are voicing scepticism.

They doubt whether he can attract enough voters to defeat the soft-spoken but formidable current sitting MP Maddila Gurumoorthy, still just 39 years old. Although optimism reigns after improving to 5 per cent vote share in the 2019 bypolls, murmurs of dissent have surfaced among the BJP’s cadre, besides allies fretting over Rao’s mass connect and local leaders questioning whether he is potent enough to fully leverage the Ram Mandir emotive appeal.

Local BJP leaders feel the party should have fielded a better candidate to take on YSRCP candidate. “Like Ram, Venkateswara swamy, the presiding deity of the Tirupati temple, is the avatar of God Vishnu. There is a positive sentiment among people about the Ram Mandir issue,” a local BJP leader said.

In his campaign, Rao is highlighting the Central government’s schemes like PM-KISAN for farmers and development projects like making Tirupati a smart city and building an international airport. BJP is hoping the construction of Ram Mandir will create a positive sentiment among voters.

Despite multiple attempts, Rao could not be contacted. On the other hand, the incumbent young MP Gurumoorthy is confident of winning again as YSRCP’s machinery remains strong. He dismisses Ram Mandir as a non-issue locally and plans to focus on upgrading infrastructure for pilgrims and resolving eco-disputes affecting locals’ livelihoods.

Despite Rao’s defection, Gurumoorthy insists the party machinery “remains strong” while dismissing the Ram Mandir as a non-issue locally. Speaking to PTI, he vowed to recapture all seven Assembly segments under Tirupati and prioritise upgrading infrastructure to boost pilgrim footfalls, which is already at 70,000 a day.

He further promised to resolving a festering eco-dispute involving the livelihood concerns of over 80,000 locals in two Assembly segments dependent on the Pulicat lagoon.

From soaring heights to rock bottom, the BJP’s rollercoaster journey in Tirupati has been a cosmic saga of triumph and tribulation. BJP had a massive victory of 49 per cent votes in Tirupati in 1999 but slumped to just 1.5 per cent in 2019.

Now the party aims to regain its former glory in this temple town as the ideological battle unfolds on May 13, the polling day. For the BJP’s foot soldiers, regaining Tirupati’s sacred soil is an existential imperative to avoid perpetual irrelevance in the fractured landscape of Andhra politics.

Tirupati, a reserved seat, is one of the six Lok Sabha constituencies the BJP is contesting in Andhra Pradesh as part of an alliance with TDP and Jana Sena Party. (PTI)