BJP’s confusing signals to cadres in AP, TS

Is BJP in a state of confusion regarding its strategies in the two Telugu states – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – or is it deliberately indulging in shadow boxing?

As far as Telangana is concerned, the BJP had gone very aggressive since its stellar performance in the urban body elections and a few other byelections such as Dubbaka and Huzurabad. Then there was change of guard and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay was made the state president. Ever since then, the BJP saw an upsurge in its popularity and until the Karnataka elections, it gave an impression that it would emerge as the main opposition. Its optimism stemmed from the traction it gained in the subsequent local body and Assembly byelections.

The state party put booth-level committees in place and the leaders were making efforts to sort out differences at local level. The party veterans were asked to extensively tour the state to highlight the achievements of the central government and make a mark so that they can drastically improve the party position in the state during the Assembly elections to be held towards the end of the year.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP vote share in the state jumped to 20 per cent, and it established a lead in as many as 21 assembly segments and was at the second position in 22 segments out of a total of 119 assembly seats. In other words, its vote share registered an impressive positive swing of nearly 13 percentage points in less than a year compared to the assembly elections held six months earlier in December 2018. That was considered an opening the party was looking for in a state that has remained elusive all these years. But mysteriously there has been lull in its activities of late. Speculations are rife that some leaders such as Eatala Rajender and Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy are unhappy and contemplating to join the Congress party. They do not seem unfounded.

These two leaders have made their views very clear that the decisions of the central leadership on various issues including the ED going silent on Delhi liquor scam as well as the alleged role of MLC K Kavitha have damaged the image of BJP.

For the past two days, they have been camping in Delhi to meet Amit Shah and discuss the ground reality in the state. Though BJP national president J P Nadda has been lashing out at the state government, people feel there is some secret understanding between the BJP and the BRS.

The Congress party which is on cloud nine after its back to back victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka has made this a major campaign point and it seems to have clicked. The BRS decision not to attend the opposition parties meeting in Patna and the visit of KTR to meet some Union Ministers are being cited as an example of the “surrender” of BRS to the BJP by the Congress party. It is also claiming that because of this understanding, BRS leaders and CM KCR himself have toned down their criticism of PM Modi.

In the neighbouring AP, the BJP has constituted a committee of national-level party leaders to bring out a charge sheet on alleged scams and file cases against the ruling YSRCP in all police stations from June 1. No one is now speaking about it.

BJP entered into an alliance with Pawan Kalyan and gave an impression that it would fight YSRCP and expose its omissions and commissions. But the state unit is ignoring Pawan Kalyan.

The BJP state president even cries over TDP president Chandrababu Naidu but shudders to criticise Jagan Mohan Reddy or the YSRCP. These developments give a clear indication that the BJP is not serious about its surge in the South.

This one step forward and two steps backward strategy will cause immense damage to the party and it may not be possible for it to emerge as a force to be reckoned with in the next five years.