BJP lukewarm about Warangal by-poll

The party is understood to have failed even to churn out an election strategy

Hyderabad: Lack of strong leadership and local leaders staying away from attending regular party meetings to mobilise people seem to have caused great worry for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of to the by-election to Warangal Lok Sabha seat.

While the Opposition Congress is already moving fast to revive it lost ground in the Parliamentary constituency, the BJP, in alliance with the TDP, has not even worked out a roadmap for the crucial election.

A top ranking leader from the BJP told The Hans India that the State leadership, concentrating on GHMC polls, had been neglecting the upcoming Warangal Lok Sabha by-election. The State unit had never convened a meeting to ascertain its views on deciding the candidate for the by-election, he said.

Even though the BJP has been receiving numerous applications to contest the by-poll, the party is understood to have been finding it difficult to finalise an appropriate candidate.

The senior leader further said the Congress had already constituted a district committee head and Assembly constituency-wise committees with leaders like Mallu Batti Vikramarka, K Jana Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and T Jeevan Reddy under the Warangal Parliament constituency to oversee the ensuing by-election.

He said the Congress had been involving all leaders of the district in the election work to get expec­ted result. He opined that the BJP-TDP alliance, unlike the Congress, had failed to rejuvenate the party network from grass-root level.