119 BJP MLAs from outside begin tour of Telangana

Hyderabad: One-hundred-and-nineteen of BJP’s elected representatives from across six states and a UT on Saturday started fanning out across Telangana for a seven-day ‘pravas’ in each Assembly constituency, to make their presence felt and gauge the expectations of the electorate.

This, according to one ‘pravasi’ MLA, will help it overcome an “enthusiasm deficit” within the state BJP in the run-up to Assembly elections.

BJP state general secretary G. Premender Reddy said the week-long exercise will see his party’s legislators from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, Goa and Puducherry interact with party leaders and workers at all levels in the constituencies.  

The party’s national spokesperson and Lok Sabha member from Bhubaneswar, Aprajitha Sarangi, said that all visiting legislators will submit their feedback to the party between August 28 and 31, which the party will study for possible steps to be taken at the ground level.  

On the Congress’ charge that the BJP was working with the BRS, she said: “The question does not arise. Such talk will be there, and the BJP will fight on its own strength and will definitely show good results.”

Dr Budhan Murmu, who represents the Saraskana constituency in Odisha, said the BJP MLAs’ ‘pravas’ in Telangana is an opportunity to learn from one another. “We have some experience as elected members, which we will share. The programme is detailed and we will have meetings with all sections of society. There is some enthusiasm deficit in the party in the state, but we are here to inject some enthusiasm. We have a chance to form a government in Telangana and our work will focus on that,” he said.

On Saturday, the visiting BJP legislators attended a meeting in the city addressed by state BJP president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy, Rajya Sabha member and the state election incharge Prakash Javadekar. They briefed the gathering on various issues and the need to follow an 18-point action plan that was provided to them in a handbook.  

Each of the visiting BJP legislators will be accompanied by local BJP leaders, who will act as facilitators and translators, where required. Also in attendance for the meeting were senior party leaders N. Indrasena Reddy and P. Muralidhar Rao, among others.

BJP vice-president D.K. Aruna said: “We are preparing on all fronts for the elections. The people are ready to get rid of the nine years of atrocious BRS’ rule. The ‘pravas’ by our party MLAs and MLCs is to create an atmosphere in the party from the ground level up for gearing up to defeat the BRS. And along with Congress, the BRS is trying to divide people on religious lines.”