Hurt By Congress Campaign, BJP To Emphasise Differences With BRS

HYDERABAD: “We are single. We have no truck with anyone. And we are going it alone.” This was the simple message the state BJP received on Monday from Sunil Bansal, the party’s national general secretary and co-election incharge for Telangana.

Bansal is learnt to have told state party leaders that this message must be loud and clear, and there should be no doubts among people that the BJP has no tie-up whatsoever with the BRS, as was being alleged by Congress for some time now.

In his meetings, first with the state party general secretaries and later, with the office-bearers of state BJP, Bansal discussed ways to counter the BRS’ narrative that the BJP and the Congress were in cahoots.

Bansal’s directive comes in the wake of cross-fire from BRS and Congress, and an increasing perception among Telangana BJP leaders that the Congress’ narrative was increasingly finding more takers among the people of the state.

The discussions on Monday also saw the party decide that it will soon organise public meetings in 12 ST and 19 SC reserved constituencies in the state. The decision comes in the wake of some of its leaders from these communities speaking up, complaining that the party did not care for their sections.

Also on the cards are yatras by new state BJP president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy across Telangana.

While the dates for the public meetings and the yatra are yet to be fixed — Kishan Reddy is yet to assume formal charge as the state party president — it was learnt that another old hand at padayatras, former state president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, could also be deployed to areas Kishan Reddy might not be able to cover. There is a likelihood of Huzurabad MLA and the party’s election committee chairman, Etala Rajendar, too embarking on a similar exercise.

The party has also been told that it should complete some of the tasks it was yet to round off as part of the Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyaan, with a directive to all leaders not to speak out of turn or air grievances in public.