Nadda, Amit Shah review Bandi's arrest with Modi

Hyderabad: A full-fledged political battle has erupted in Telangana state between the BJP and the BRS over the issue of two SSC exam question papers’ leaks, with both sides butting heads over BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s arrest on charges of alleged conspiracy to defame the government by encouraging the leaks.

Leaders on both sides wasted no time in going hammer and tongs at each other, with the BRS leaders holding press conferences and releasing statements at a breathless pace, while the BJP leaders accused the state government of attempting to divert public attention from its failures to conduct SSC exams in a fool-proof manner, as well as TSPSC question paper leaks. The BJP claimed that the BRS government was doing this by filing false charges against Sanjay.

While the BJP and BRS's verbal spat over the question paper leaks was expected to intensify, Sanjay's arrest as Accused No. 1 in the case is being seen as an attempt to thwart the BJP's ongoing efforts to strengthen its grassroots structure through its polling booth ‘Shashaktikaran’ programme. The BJP has been working hard to get its act together on the ground, which is currently seen as a hurdle that it desperately needs to overcome, and with Sanjay's arrest, the party leaders and cadres are expected to take to the streets in the coming days. "Any delays in this exercise will give the ruling party more time to prevent and delay the BJP from becoming stronger at the grassroot level," a BJP leader said.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, BJP president J.P. Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah are said to have reviewed the Telangana situation and Sanjay's arrest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The top leaders are said to be in constant touch with state BJP leaders as well as Union minister G. Kishan Reddy, who is currently in the city as part of the party's preparations for the PM’s visit on April 8.

Modi is slated to address a public gathering at the Parade Ground while on an official visit to the city to participate in various inaugurations of Centrally undertaken and completed projects in Hyderabad and Telangana, as well as lay foundation stones for some more. Some speculated that the BRS government's detention of Sanjay was intended to embarrass the PM by accusing him of conspiring against the government and putting lakhs of students under stress.  Another potential embarrassment for the BJP would be Sanjay’s absence from the party’s founding day celebrations on Thursday.

Another strategy could be that Modi, expected to focus his speech at the meeting on the Centre’s development programmes in Telangana, would be forced to address the Sanjay arrest issue, giving the BRS an opportunity to accuse Modi of using his official position to talk politics.