Telangana: BJP faces internal dissent over Lok Sabha tickets to newcomers

Of the 15 candidates names announced so far, 12 of them have joined the BJP from rival political parties

Hyderabad: The BJP leadership’s decision to field those who joined the party recently in ensuing Lok Sabha polls in Telangana has not gone well with the party leaders and functionaries. This led to noticeable discontent among loyal workers who feel sidelined despite their years of hard work.

Of the 15 candidates names announced so far, 12 of them have joined the BJP from rival political parties. Even the two seats-Warangal and Khammam- put on hold are likely to go to those who are expected to join the BJP. The Warangal seat likely to be allotted to former BRS MLA Aroori Ramesh and the Khammam seat to former MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao. Except Secunderabad, Karimnagar and Nizamabad seats, rest of them were given to those who joined the BJP recently.

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Senior party leaders who nurtured the hope of being considered for a party ticket are crestfallen, as they expected to ride to success on the crest of the Modi popularity wave. With the party denying them ticket now, their dreams are shattered. The BJP’s over reliance on the turncoats while sidelining its own leaders also exposes its inherent weakness. The party’s gamble to depend heavily on Modi’s popularity while not focussing on the strengths of the candidates being chosen could spring surprises later, many party insiders feel.

Party sources, however, disagree with this argument and point out that the high command did not want to take any chance this time, but set its eyes on winning as many seats as possible from Telangana. Hence, it is a political decision to field those who joined the party recently. “Party wants winning candidates. It doesnt matter whether they are from the party or other parties. Our goal is to win maximum seats,” a senior BJP leader asserted.

But the heartburn among many over the other party leaders knocking off tickets, is very much palpable in many constituencies. Zaheerabad constituency BJP leaders have already staged a protest last week at party headquarters against choosing former BRS MP BB Patil. In Adilabad, former MP Ramesh Rathod and former MLA Rathod Bapu Rao are opposing the candidature of G Nagesh, who joined the BJP from BRS recently.

Sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao, who was denied renomination, has already announced that he would be contesting the election at any cost. Party leaders fear that if all the top BJP leaders of the district work against the official candidate, the party has very less chance of registering a win. The party has won four MLA seats in the erstwhile Adilabad district and two of them are opposing Nagesh’s candidature.

Even the Mahabubnagar seat, from where senior party leader DK Aruna has been fielded, does not look safe as former MP, AP Jitender Reddy, who was in the race for the ticket, has been approached by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to contest from the seat on Congress ticket. Similarly, in other seats too the party candidates are unlikely to get support from local BJP leaders as they are reportedly not so keen to work for the victory of these leaders. Similar situation prevails in many other constituencies.