BJP State leaders fear reliance on Modi will repeat Karnataka debacle in TS

Will the BJP's reliance on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry the campaign in Telangana will prove counterproductive and go the Karnataka way? This has become the topic of discussion among BJP State leaders.

Hyderabad: Will the BJP’s reliance on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry the campaign in Telangana will prove counterproductive and go the Karnataka way? This has become the topic of discussion among BJP State leaders.

The BJP central leadership taking charge of the State election campaign is worrying several State leaders as they fear that too much interference of the central leadership will prove counterproductive and that the outcome will be similar to Karnataka, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the entire campaigning into his hands but still the party lost badly.

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Modi had held over 20 rallies and roadshows in Karnataka before the elections. The BJP State leaders maintained that the his campaign in Karnataka was heavily focused on issues such as national security and the economy, which did not resonate with voters in the State.

“If a similar policy is adopted during campaigning in Telangana, the result will not be different. We are already lagging behind rival parties and if the party leadership do not allow us to raise local issues, it will be very difficult to get peoples’ support,” a BJP leader said.

The BJP State leadership is planning to organise a series of public meetings and rallies of Modi, union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States this month. Sources in the party said the State leaders were planning to organise about 40 meetings of party top leaders in the State in the next one month.

“The Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad public meetings of the Prime Minister has once again energised party leaders and functionaries. Their morale is very high now. We are planning a few more meetings of the PM in the coming days,” a city BJP leader said.

Sources informed that the party was planning to hold public meeting of Amit Shah in Kamareddy or Gajwel next week. Nadda is scheduled to visit Hyderabad on Friday to take part in a State executive meeting. The meetings will discuss the electoral preparedness of the party and public meetings of Prime Minister and other leaders to be held in the State.