Rift between Bandi Sanjay and Eatala Rajender resurfaces ahead of local body polls

The rivalry between Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar and MP Eatala Rajender has resurfaced ahead of local body elections in Telangana. Rajender’s comments on issuing B-forms have sparked internal disputes within the BJP’s Huzurabad unit, deepening factional divisions

Karimnagar: The long-standing rift between Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender has once again surfaced ahead of the upcoming local body elections.

Rajender’s recent remarks on issuing B-forms to party candidates have sparked a fresh dispute between the two factions in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency.

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Addressing a press conference in Huzurabad on Friday, Rajender asserted that he had been representing the constituency for 25 years and, as a local leader, would issue party B-forms to candidates contesting the local body elections.

In a swift response, BJP district president Gangadi Krishna Reddy, without naming the MP, said that the decision on candidates would be taken by the party high command. He clarified that B-forms would be issued to district leaders as per the instructions of the State leadership, adding that the BJP had no tradition of distributing B-forms based on individual recommendations.

He further stated that the party would recognise the services of long-time leaders and activists, indirectly hinting that Rajender’s followers, who joined the BJP in 2021, would not be given tickets for the local polls.

Meanwhile, Rajender’s alleged anti-party remarks have been circulating within BJP circles. According to party sources, during his recent visit to his native Kamalapur on the occasion of Dasara, the MP reportedly told his followers that he would help them secure tickets from the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) if they failed to get BJP tickets.

Following this, district leaders are said to have lodged a complaint with State BJP president N Ramchander Rao, accusing Rajender of acting against the party line. Though neither the MP’s comments nor the complaint copy has surfaced publicly, followers of the Union Minister allegedly leaked the information to the media.

It may be recalled that Sanjay Kumar’s comments in July on groupism within the Huzurabad BJP unit had sparked a major controversy. During a local event, he had stated that tickets would only be given to those working for the party and not for individuals, questioning why factionalism had developed in Huzurabad when it was absent elsewhere in the State.

Rajender had reacted sharply to those remarks, criticising Sanjay Kumar. Party insiders said the rivalry between the two widened further after Rajender was denied the State BJP president post — a decision his group believes was strongly opposed by Sanjay Kumar.