Aggressively target TRS: Amit Shah tells Telangana BJP

Hyderabad: If the pep talk given by BJP national president Amit Shah during the party's brainstorming session in Delhi on Wednesday is transformed into action, the state BJP unit will be soon seen aggressively attacking the ruling TRS.

The TS BJP core committee members had been, along with members of similar panels across the country, invited by the BJP central leadership for the session which was addressed by Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders.

The state BJP Core Committee members, who did not wish to be named due to party disciplinary rules, told DC that the TS BJP should start acting like a real opposition party and not believe in rumours that the BJP will have a tie-up with the ruling TRS.

Amit Shah clearly told the state BJP leaders that they should start believing that the party was the real alternative to the TRS and not the Congress. The direction given to the party units, especially the non-BJP ruled states, was specific — the BJP should become the alternative to ruling establishments, shrugging away its present soft attitude.

TS BJP president K. Laxman, national executive member Nagam Janardhana Reddy and Legislature party leader G. Kishan Reddy were among the 11 core committee members allowed to address the day-long session.

Amit Shah reportedly observed that TS BJP leaders needed to shrug off complacency and think of a possible alliance with TRS. Instead, he said, they should be more critical, vocal and visible.

According to sources, even the PM told leaders of the non-BJP ruled states that offense was the best form of defence and asked them to identify people-centric issues and fight the ruling establishments to gain the confidence of the people.

The impact of the pep talk was visible in the fact that Dr Laxman hurriedly convened a press media in Delhi during which he was highly critical of the TS-Maharashtra agreement on Tammidihatti and Medigadda barrages.

Earlier, the same leaders had welcomed the TS government's initiative of trying to resolve the pending issues with Maharashtra when Mr Rao had gone to Mumbai and signed a pact for constituting the Inter-State Board. The TS BJP leaders had gone to Mumbai and met the Maharashtra Chief Minister and tried to take credit for that agreement.