Telangana BJP Faces Internal Strife as Divisions Emerge

 Hyderabad: Instead of cashing in on the positive wave in its favour during the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is a divided house now as it is ridden with several internal disputes.

The gap stood exposed when a BJP team, led by Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajendar, party general secretary Dr Kasam Venkateshwarlu and secretary Prakash Reddy submitted a memorandum to 16th Finance Commission at Praja Bhavan recently.

Members of its Legislature Party were neither informed nor asked to join them even though the BJP boasts of eight MLAs.

State unit president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy is preoccupied with a number of additional responsibilities. Besides being a Union minister, he is also in-charge of party affairs for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. In his absence, sources in the party said, his trusted lieutenants, who have been holding key positions, were calling the shots and not allowing others to take any decision. In fact, they stopped their MLAs from visiting the flood-affected regions.

Among other such notable indications come from the fact that when the party’s kisan cell launched a helpline at the state party office, the Legislature Party was not included in the exercise.

Sources added that the party leadership had expressed its displeasure when its Legislature Party leader held press meetings in the State Assembly.

Even party in-charges for different wings, who are loyalists of Kishan Reddy, have not been allowing the frontal organisations to take up any programmes. The Kisan Morcha, Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha leaders are worried about taking up any programme because of the clout their in-charges enjoy, said a Kisan Morcha leader.