G Kishan Reddy’s comeback as BJP Telangana president is being dubbed as a strategic move by the party’s high command to quell dissenters and bring the outfit back on track ahead of the crucial assembly elections later this year. The state unit under the leadership of Bandi Sanjay Kumar was making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Several senior leaders in the party openly lashed out at Sanjay for not being a team player and, instead, favouring his cohort. Many within the party also had issues with his capabilities as a leader, saying he was limited to only being a firebrand Hindutva icon, which did manage to rattle the KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi government on many counts, but failed to counter him on other issues to build a strong anti-BRS sentiment, or for that matter, mount the party’s campaign to curb the Congress’s momentum following its recent Karnataka win.
On the other hand, G Kishan Reddy, by virtue of being a seasoned political leader from the region, is believed to have a far better grip on the organisation, both at the state and central levels. Shaped by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he has been a grassroots worker who rose through the ranks, by becoming the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president in 2010 and eventually leading it as its first Telangana chief till 2016. He became a first-time Lok Sabha MP from Secunderabad in 2019, before which he was a three-time MLA.
With the change of guard in Telangana, the party’s high command believes Reddy’s amicable personality, wide network, and soft power will help micromanage the local unit. However, the BJP’s new Telangana commander-in-chief has a long to-do list.
1. Lack of candidates
The biggest challenge for G Kishan Reddy is to fetch and field winnable candidates in all the 119 assembly constituencies to take on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the now highly-rejuvenated Congress, courtesy of the Karnataka elections. However, several leaders from the BRS and Congress who were in steady talks with the BJP backed out owing to differences in the party leadership among many factors. The party suffered a huge blow when it failed to get former BRS MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao who ditched them to join the Congress. In a bid to set a balancing act, the BJP’s central leadership has appointed Etela Rajender as the chairman of the election management committee in the state, effectively bringing in potential candidates from other parties. Rajender, a six-time MLA from Huzurabad and an influential leader from the OBC community, is perceived to be an arch-nemesis of BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao owing to their bitter past.
2. Placate existing newcomers and set defined roles for others
Several senior leaders and ticket aspirants who joined the BJP in recent years feel side-lined and underutilised. A former Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2020 tells News18 that he hasn’t been able to establish himself in the party due to a lack of opportunities and internal lobbying.
“I had expressed my desire to be the official spokesperson of the party in addition to taking up more responsibilities, but there has been a lack of coordination at all levels. Our proposals aren’t even considered by the high command. Many people are lobbying for the same position. Hope things change after Kishan Reddy’s takeover,” the leader told News18 on condition of anonymity
Before Bandi Sanjay’s removal, Dubbaka MLA Raghunandan Rao also lashed out at the party for not giving him due recognition despite working hard for 10 years. He had also decried the party for neither considering him as a candidate for state presidency nor appointing him as a national spokesperson.
Sources indicate that Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy is also unhappy about not being given any leadership role in the party. For the unversed, it was Raj Gopal Reddy and Etela Rajender who led the banner of revolt against Bandi Sanjay in New Delhi, but both Kishan Reddy and Etela’s elevation has left Raj Gopal Reddy sour, according to sources close to him. While the party made an attempt on Wednesday to placate him by appointing him as a member of the national executive committee, sources say he is still upset at not being picked as a candidate for state presidency.
3. Confusion among cadres
Bandi Sanjay’s unforeseen removal has garnered mixed responses on the ground with his core supporters feeling disconnected. A leader close to Sanjay’s camp dubbed the move a “big blunder”.
“Sanjay managed to build momentum for the BJP and became a mass leader, streetfighter, and an icon in the eyes of all karyakartas. He challenged KCR head-on and had a stellar track record. Removing him just four or five months ahead of the elections has demotivated the cadres. None of the state leaders could create the buzz that Bandi Sanjay managed to do during his tenure,” he said.
4. Strong poll pitch beyond Hindutva plank
The Congress’s win in Karnataka has forced the BJP to rethink its strategy for Telangana as Hindutva alone may not be enough for the party to build its narrative against KCR or even the Congress, which has been once again relying on corruption as a theme to target the chief minister and his family. For the BJP, a larger part of its narrative during Sanjay’s tenure was restricted to Hindutva and BRS and AIMIM’s friendly ties, which also drew criticism from within the party.
“Politics in north and south India are completely different. Hindutva alone won’t fetch us votes as evident through Karnataka elections. We need stronger themes and welfare schemes to highlight KCR’s failures,” a senior leader told CNN-News18.
With Kishan Reddy doubling up as both union minister and state party chief, the BJP feels it will have a better reach among the masses to highlight the “double-engine sarkar” model along with the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the past nine years.
5. Poor and inconsistent electoral performance
Electorally, the BJP has never been a formidable force in Telangana. In 2014, under Reddy’s leadership, the party won five assembly seats but soon lost its deposits and was reduced to just one seat in 2018. Kishan Reddy had narrowly lost to TRS (now BRS) in Amberpet, a constituency he had won twice over.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party received a big fillip when it won four MP seats. While Kishan Reddy managed to win from Secunderabad, the biggest headline was the defeat of KCR’s daughter K Kavitha in Nizamabad.
Following the appointment of Bandi Sanjay as state chief in March 2020, backed by two bypoll wins and an impressive stint in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the BJP to its credit has been able to create a perception of being a strong challenger to both the BRS and Congress. But analysts say its growth could be short-lived if it fails to get its act together.
“Even to this day, the BJP’s target is mainly the Congress. It wants to replicate the West Bengal model here, but the Karnataka elections have had an impact. That’s why there is also a perception that both the BRS and BJP have softened their stand to work on their joint goal of curtailing the Congress in Telangana. Kishan Reddy is an acceptable face to both sides,” a political analyst told CNN-News18.