BJP ‘seniors’ in Telangana not interested in Assembly polls

Hyderabad: Key leaders of the State unit of the BJP are reportedly reluctant to contest the Assembly polls, putting the party leadership in a difficult position as it is finding it tough to get candidates for constituencies allotted to them.

Sources in the party said former MPs AP Jitender Reddy, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, G Vivek Venkatswamy and former minister and BJP national vice-president DK Aruna were not so keen to contest the Assembly polls and want the party leadership to drop their names from the candidates list. These leaders were more interested in contesting the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Former State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar too is reportedly not happy that he is being fielded in Karimnagar.

The decision of these leaders has created suspense over the allotment of tickets for Gadwal, Mahabubnagar, Tandur and Chennur assembly constituencies. On the other hand, with the BJP leadership exempting State BJP president G Kishan Reddy and Rajya Sabha Member K Laxman, who represented Amberpet and Musheerabad assembly constituencies respectively in the past, from contesting the Assembly polls, the issue of allotting tickets to a new person has become hot topic in the party.

Sources in the party said Kishan Reddy was planning to field his wife Kavya Reddy from Amberpet and has informed about it to the party leadership. On the other hand there were five contenders for the Musheerabad seat. Among them are BJP GHMC corporators from the Musheerabad segment and Pavani Vinay Kumar is being considered as the frontrunner. There is also speculation that Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya’s daughter Vijaya Lakshmi may be given the Musheerabad ticket.

It is learnt that DK Aruna wants the party to field a BC leader from Gadwal assembly constituency represented by her. Whereas, Jitender Reddy and Vishweshwar Reddy want the party to field their close associates. Going by the mood prevailing in the party, no senior party leader is willing to contest the Assembly polls as they know it could be a losing gamble, and also that even if they win, the party will not be in a position to form a government in Telangana. Hence, they want to keep away from the Assembly polls and concentrate on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls next year.-