Pressure Mounts on Telangana BJP Leadership for a BC Leader As the Next State Chief

Hyderabad: The demand to appoint a member from Backward Classes (BCs) communities as the BJP’s state president to repace incumbent G. Kishan Reddy, has gained momentum in the wake of the Congress decision to appoint a BC leader as the TPCC chief.

In fact, the demand had picked up after the party appointed Aleti Maheshwar Reddy, a member of the Reddy community, as the leader of its legislature party.

The BJP went to the Assembly elections in 2023 with a promise to appoint a BC member as Chief Minister if the won the polls.

The appointment of a new state president gathered steam after the party’s impressive showing in the Lok Sabha elections. However, this issue was relegated to the background as the party focused on other issues. It is believed that the party leadership was divided over picking between loyalists and senior leaders who joined the party in the last few years.

After Kishan Reddy was inducted into the Union Cabinet in the Modi 3.0 government, the party cadre and its leaders were expecting that the party’s national leadership will quickly choose a new state unit president.

After Kishan Reddy was given additional responsibility of party affairs in Jammu and Kashmir, which is headed for Assembly elections, his focus on Telangana affairs has reduced. In fact, he hardly visited the districts except after some regions were hit by floods.

But, the forthcoming local body elections and appointment of a new TPCC president had put pressure on BJP leadership to decide on a new state president. The social engineering yardstick followed by the Congress has added to the pressure of picking a BC leader. Many contend that would be a wise move ahead of the local body polls as BCs constitute a majority of the vote share.

Meanwhile, the name of Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajendar, who belongs to the Mudiraj community, is figuring prominently in the race. Also doing the rounds is the name of Dharmapuri Arvind, the two-time Nizamabad MP from the powerful Munnuru Kapu community.