Troubleshooter Shah to Visit Hyderabad on July 29

Hyderabad: The Telangana BJP is hoping that Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the city on July 29 will help untangle a mess it has been in ever since differences cropped out among senior leaders — with some airing their views in public — subsequently, ending in the removal of Bandi Sanjay Kumar as the state party president.

“We expect Shah will have a clear talk with the senior party leaders and make it clear that everyone must fall in line, and behind the state leadership. It is possible that a discussion on how to deal with BRS MLC K. Kavitha’s alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor scam and what line the state BJP can take might come up at this meeting,” a senior party leader said on Tuesday.

While the BJP has been on the back foot on the Kavitha issue for some time now, the national party leadership is also reported to have taken stock of repeated notes of dissent among party leaders.

Although there has been a change in state party leadership, with Union minister G. Kishan Reddy replacing Sanjay, perceptible differences between some BJP leaders, and them making their views on each other clear in the public, continue to dog the party. This was the case of actress Vijayashanti declaring that she did not want to attend a meeting addressed by Kishan Reddy, after he took charge on July 21, declaring that she did not want to be anywhere near those who opposed the formation of Telangana.

The allusions at the same meeting by Sanjay too, that he lost his post because of a campaign against him, is also learnt to have led to a fresh round of heartburn in the party.

Shah’s visit to Telangana has been much looked forward to by the state BJP, which had earlier planned to hold a public meeting in Khammam. But, this event has been cancelled twice, including the July 29 instance. Shah, however, decided to come to the state and meet with party leaders to provide much-needed direction for the party in taking on the BRS and Congress, in addition to thrashing out issues of indiscipline.

Shah, after meeting with party leaders upon his arrival, will address a gathering of around 2,000 to 3,000 ‘influential persons and opinion makers’ from different sections of the society, as described by the party. The motley group will include businesspersons, doctors, lawyers and representatives of various community organizations.

The Union minister is expected to focus his talk on the need for people to support the BJP in Telangana and the need to defeat the BRS government led by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.