The BJP is making a big push in the two Telugu States on July 6 to expand its base and make a serious bid for power in the 2024 elections.

Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister and Party Chief, will be in Hyderabad to kick-start the nationwide party membership enrolment programme from Shamshabad on Saturday. He will be followed by all the top leaders of the party touring the 33 districts to attract people from all walks of life into the party.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Chief of the RSS (Rastreya Swayam Sevak Sangh) Mohan Bhagwat will be in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, taking part in a “Gurudakshina” programme. He will also be joined by several BJP leaders.

In AP, the BJP has already been able to split the Telugu Desam Rajya Sabha Party by getting four of the six MPs into its fold a few weeks ago. There are clear indications from a majority of the 23 MLAs that the TDP won, of the 175 member Legislative Assembly willing to join it, according to Party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.

With Chandrababu Naidu, TDP Chief facing charges of corruption, the Jaganmohan Reddy government slapping notice on his residence and demolishing its annexe on gounds of they being illegal, the party is facing a serious crisis within. The criticism on Nara Lokesh role is also growing and unless Naidu makes some realistic moves, the simmering discontent can boil over into desertions, warn political analysts.

The Telangana focus

The visit of Amit Shah is expected to boost the morale of the State Unit and its efforts to attract leaders from the battered Cong(I) & TDP as well as the ruling Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) too.

‘The mood is already upbeat after the BJP’s impressive performance in the April Lok Sabha elections, where it won a record four seats.

Subsequently, the Party has been preparing the ground for expanding its base across the districts. The Cong(I) leader and former MP, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, is expected to it at any time soon. After making his intentions to quit the parent party clear, Reddy is awaiting the decision of the State Party’s disciplinary Committee to make his next move.

Towards the end of June, two ex MLAs of the TDP--E Peddi Reddy and Boda Janardhan and and ex MP, C Suresh Reddy joined. along with from Cong(I)- Sashidhar Reddy (ex MLA) and Sheik Rahmatullah in the presence of P Murlidhara Rao, one of the national secretaries of the BJP.

In its efforts to accelerate its growth in Telangana, the Modi government also appointed the Secunderabad MP, Kishan Reddy, a former State President as the junior minister of Home under Amit Shah. With the changed equations between the BJP & TRS post the 2019 General elections, the visit of Amit Shah is seen in a completely different light.

Party general secretary G Premender Reddy told media recently that it was decided to enrol another 12 lakh citizens into the party by focusing on dalits, tribals, youth, farmers and women.

Before the Telangana Legislative Assembly elections in December 2018, the understanding between Modi and K Chandrasekhar Rao, saw the BJP a bit subdued in its attack on the TRS and was also seen as supportive. An aggressive, KCR during his campaign’s also attacked Amit Shah, which did not go well with the latter.

Though, down after managing just a solitary seat (Raja Singh in Hyderabad) in the 119 member Assembly, the BJP worked its way and surprised everyone by winning four and also dealing a shock to KCR when his daughter and sitting MP from Nizamabad, K Kavitha was defeated by D Arvind.

Atter the LS polls, the two parties are clear in their strategies. The TRS has been aggressive in decimating the opposition. It has engineered a split in the Cong(I) and 12 of the 18 members into its fold. Similarly, it has got a TDP legislator too to take its tally beyond 100.

The BJP on its part is putting its best efforts to attract leaders from all parties as well as expand its base. On the defections, the State BJP president K Laxman said this is just a beginning. “You are going to witness many leaders from the Congress and TRS joining BJP soon”.

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