BJP in hunt for AP chief to take on TDP

Hyderabad: After taking a leap of faith into the BJP, realising that the Congress was a sinking ship post bifurcation of the state in 2014, former Union minister and BJP Mahila Morcha in-charge Daggubati Purandeswari lately is understood to be moving her pawns on the political chess board very carefully.

As the BJP national leadership is about to appoint a new president for AP state unit since Visakhapatnam MP K Haribabu's term had expired quite long ago, one of the front runners for the post is NTR's daughter Purandeswari who is known for her ability to speak fluently in English and Telugu and impress the audience in public meetings.

Though all parties are blaming the BJP for the ills of the state and the saffron party leaders are giving back to them in equal measure, Purandeswari is steering clear of the controversy since even if she defends the BJP, awkward questions might be asked and she may not have satisfactory answers on denial of Special Category Status and the benefits promised in the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014.

According to sources, the daughter of the late NTR is expecting that she might be asked to step into Haribabu's shoes as he finds the going tough in fighting with the TDP government in the wake of reports that he has a soft corner for the TDP dispensation.

Though there are others in the reckoning, including MLC Somu Veeraraju and former minister P Manikyala Rao both from Kapu community, which is numerically strong in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Purandeswari, sources said, is expecting a decision in her favour since she is an arch rival to Chandrababu Naidu and no one knows about Naidu the way she knows about him since Naidu's wife is her sister.

The bitter enmity between Purandeswari and Naidu had in fact stuck out like a sore thumb in the alliance between the BJP and the TDP until it broke up recently, with Naidu pulling the plug. Now that the coast is clear for her to go for Naidu's jugular, she expects the party to prefer her for the new assignment.

One BJP leader on condition of anonymity said: "Though Veeraraju is a fiery leader and Manikayala Rao a gentleman, both may not be suitable for the post because if one is hot-tempered the other is diametrically opposite. Apart from this, for the BJP to stand up to TDP, it should have a leader from the caste which dominates the Telugu Desam Party. Viewed in this angle, no one fits the bill better than Purandeswari."

He, however, does not dismiss the fact that in BJP, appointments to crucial posts are made after consideration of the antecedents of the aspirants. "One should have BJP ideology in one's blood. A migrant to BJP, that too from Congress stock, might turn out to her disadvantage," he said.

There is a camp in the BJP which argues that though Purandeswari belongs to the caste that one should not ignore in Andhra politics, she is not a politician to the core since she was taken straightaway into the central cabinet after she won the election in 2004 from Bapatla and again when she won from Visakhapatnam.

“She could influence the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with her fluent English and disarming smile, but politically, no one knows how astute she would be. This uncertainty might work against her,” a source said.