Appointment of district presidents in Adilabad exposes internal bickering in BJP

Lawyer Ravi Pandey was strongly proposed for the post of Nirmal district BJP president

Adilabad: Appointment of presidents for four districts here by the BJP has exposed internal bickering among leaders and MLAs of the national party.

Lawyer Ravi Pandey was strongly proposed for the post of Nirmal district BJP president. The nomination was supported by the leadership of the party. However, Mudhole MLA Ramarao Patel and his counterpart from Nirmal, A Maheshwar Reddy vouched for Hari Naik from Mancherial.

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While certain leaders declared that they would not tolerate appointment of Hari Naik and insisted for elevation of a local candidate to the post, the leadership is learnt to have alternatively finalised the name of Rithish Rathod considering the difference of opinion among the leaders and legislators. The appointment was kept on hold for now.

Similarly, Sirpur (T) MLA Dr P Harish Rao ignited dissent among the leaders by batting for Dhoni Srisailam as president of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. Many leaders wanted tribal rights leader Kotnaka Vijay to lead the party in the district and strengthen it here. However, the party was forced to appoint Srisailam as the district chief at the last minute due to pressure exerted by Rao.

Meanwhile, former Gudihathnoor ZPTC member Pathange Brahmanandam was selected as Adilabad district’s BJP president. He was a confidant of Adilabad MLA Payal Shankar. His appointment reflected the hold of Shankar over the party and ended suspension over the appointment of the president.

Venkateshwar Goud was elevated as the party’s Mancherial district president, disappointing leaders from weaker sections. In particular, Dalit leader Arumulla Posham pinned many hopes on the post. However, the party reposed faith in Venkateshwar Goud.