BJP to focus on Telangana after Gujarat polls

Hyderabad: With the Assembly elections in Gujarat coming to an end, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now looking to focus on Telangana to gear up for the polls due next year.

As part of its preparations, the saffron party is planning to use the services of its top leadership to bolster the prospects in the state.

BJP National President JP Nadda visit Telangana on December 16 to address a public meeting marking the culmination of the fifth phase of the 'Praja Sangram Yatra' of BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

Nadda will address themeeting in Karimnagar, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Bandi Sanjay.

With Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislator, K Kavitha's name figuring in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in the Delhi liquor policy scam and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also serving her notice in connection with the same case, the BJP is apparently looking to step up the attack on TRS on its home turf.

Political observers say the TRS is already rattled by a series of searches by the central agencies against Telangana ministers, MPs, MLAs and other leaders in different cases and the BJP may try to politically cash in on the situation.

During his speeches at public meetings in the past, Nadda had described KCR government as the most corrupt in the entire country.

The latest developments are likely to provide further ammunition to the BJP leaders in their attacks on the TRS.

Though the BJP failed in its plan to win the by-election to Munugode Assembly seat, the party leaders feel that the investigation by various agencies against the acts of omissions and commissions by the leaders of ruling party will help sharpen their attacks on the ruling party in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

After winning the Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly seats, BJP was looking to score a hat-trick in Munugode but the TRS foiled its plan by winning the bitterly-contested bypoll.

However, a series of raids by agencies like ED, CBI and IT against top TRS leaders have come handy for the saffron party to sharpen their attack.

The TRS leaders see the raids as a counter to the arrest of three alleged agents of BJP in October while they were trying to lure four MLAs of the TRS with offers of huge sums of money to make them defect to the BJP.

As the name of BJP General Secretary B. L. Santhosh and two others cropped up during the investigation, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police not only summoned them for questioning but included them in the case as accused.

The MLAs' poaching case being investigated by the state and the raids by the central agencies have already generated political heat in the state.

The ongoing padyatra by the BJP state president and the public meeting to be addressed by Nadda on December 16 are likely to further add fuel to the fire.

The beginning of the fifth phase of the padyatra last week saw a showdown with the government denying permission for its launch from Bhainsa town in Nirmal district.

Citing the apprehension of breach of peace in the communally sensitive town, the police denied permission for the launch of the padyatra from Bhainsa and also the public meeting which was scheduled to be addressed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On a petition by the BJP challenging the police action, the Telangana High Court gave conditional permission for the padyatra.

The tone and tenor of Bandi Sanjay during the speeches indicates that the BJP is going all out to achieve its Mission 2023.

Bandi Sanjay, whose walkathon entered eighth day on Monday, described himself as "a psycho" who "works for the poor, protects Hindu Dharma and Hindu brothers".

Slamming TRS government, he questioned the sanction of "40 per cent" of 2BHK houses to a particular community and asked where the majority 80 per cent Hindu population should go.

"BJP will bring bulldozers to Telangana, once we come to power," he said.

Attacking KCR and Kavitha, the BJP leader remarked that aboth father and daughter were crying after CBI issued notices to her in the Delhi liquor scam.

"KCR, no one can save you. We will send your corrupt family to jail," he said.