Big Guns of BJP to Storm Telangana, Set Stage for Polls with Power-packed Campaign

Hyderabad: The BJP’s big guns will begin landing in Telangana from the middle of this month, setting the stage for the party’s campaign for the Assembly elections that are expected to be held towards the end of this year.

Party leaders on Tuesday said Union home minister Amit Shah will be addressing a public meeting in Khammam on June 15, and BJP president J.P. Nadda in Nagarkurnool on June 25.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a public meeting in Malkajgiri, which is likely to be held on June 30, party leaders said. These meetings, some party leaders hoped, would mark the end of internal bickering among some leaders who have been voicing their disapproval at the way the party is being run in the state.

The choice of Khammam for Shah’s meeting is being viewed as significant given the efforts by state BJP leaders to invite former BRS leader Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy from the district into the party. Though Srinivas Reddy has reportedly informed the BJP that he was not interested, the selection of Shah’s meeting venue is expected to send a signal that the party is strong by itself.

Even as the party is making plans to make these public meetings huge successes, it is learnt that some senior leaders, as well some members of the BJP state executive, have been asked to go to New Delhi to meet senior national leaders to iron out differences. “Some of the leaders who have been in the news for various reasons are expected to go to Delhi to meet our national leaders,” a BJP senior leader said. These meetings are expected to take place in the next few days.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders looking into the planning for the public meetings, said that a final confirmation of Modi’s visit to the city is yet to be received. June 30 is also the last day of the BJP’s month-long Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan, the exercise of reaching out to people and party leaders and cadres visiting every home in the state to inform people about the development work through Central government programmes under Modi’s leadership.