Rebellion hits Telangana BJP unit over denial of tickets to district, constituency in-charges

Just as the Bharatiya Janata Party intensified its efforts to gain a foothold in the State, a rebellion of sorts is breaking out in its ranks.

By Anil Kumar

Hyderabad: Just as the Bharatiya Janata Party intensified its efforts to gain a foothold in the State, a rebellion of sorts is breaking out in its ranks.

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A decision of the party’s central leadership, not to consider leaders appointed as district and assembly constituency in-charges as candidates for the next Assembly polls, is said to have triggered the mutiny, with party sources confirming that a large number of district and constituency in-charges have decided to quit the posts so that they can seek a ticket for the Assembly elections.

Ever since BJP in-charge of Telangana Sunil Bansal announced that those who have been appointed as in-charge of districts and assembly constituencies would not be considered as party candidates for the assembly polls, the in-charges have turned grumpy and are said to have lost interest in party activities. Bansal had recently stated that the party was following the same policy in all States and that it would be implemented in Telangana too.

Already, several BJP leaders from the erstwhile Nizamabad district have started raising their voice and have openly threatened to resign from the post of in-charge and if needed, from the party too. Though BJP State president Bandi Sanjay assured the leaders that those who perform well as in-charges would be considered for the party ticket, the leaders are not satisfied with his assurance. Sanjay had recently appointed the in-charges for all 119 assembly constituencies in the State.

According to sources, former MLA and BJP State vice-president Yendala Laxminarayana, who has been made in-charge of LB Nagar Assembly constituency, is also agitated with the decision of the party leadership, as he was reportedly planning to contest from the Nizamabad Rural constituency.

Similarly, there are many former MLAs and senior leaders from the district, who have been made in-charges, and now are not happy with the party’s policy. They are said to have pointed out that though they were working towards bringing the party to power in the State, the party was not recognising their contributions and was trying to sideline them.

‘”We have been working for the party for a long time and now when we want to contest the polls, the party leadership is denying us an opportunity. We have joined politics to contest the polls and if the party does not recognise our efforts, it is better to resign from the party,'” a leader from Nizamabad said, adding that the sentiment was more or less the same in all districts.

Meanwhile, the BJP State leadership, which is busy with the Munugode by-poll campaign, is learnt to have assured the dissidents that they would look into the issue after the poll. With reports that the State could witness an early assembly election, the BJP leadership is worried that any dissidence in the party could affect the party’s prospects in the polls.

The State leadership has reportedly informed senior leaders at the Centre about the opposition to the policy and has urged them to resolve the issue at the earliest, party sources said.