The schadenfreude that some BJP leaders within the Telangana state unit were feeling after Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar was stripped of his state party presidentship proved to be short-lived. Sanjay was named as general secretary of the party subsequently. This big boost to Sanjay, after he was targeted by a group of party leaders and has come as a shocker to those who wanted him out as state party chief. While Sanjay’s followers are elated at his elevation in the party ranks, his detractors who were waiting for him to be made a minister of state in the Union Cabinet with no larger role in the party, are now apparently resigning themselves for an eventual display of freudenfreude.
BRS, BJP, CONGRESS — HORSE TRADING HAS BEGUN!
No one is so forgiving, loving and welcoming as a political party before elections. The three main parties in the fray in Telangana state are playing the no-holds-barred recruitment game. Each party is trying to create the image of being the most sought-after party. The BJP, which grew in tremendous strength in Telangana between 2019 to 2022, did so with strong leaders joining it from other parties - be it the Congress or the BRS, among them, D.K. Aruna, A.P. Jithender Reddy, M. Raghunandan Rao, Etala Rajendar, Marri Shashidhar Reddy, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, to name a few. But this year, it has been the Congress which has got the big names, creating a narrative that it is not only the principal challenger to the BRS but also the potential winner in the big polls ahead. Two major leaders - Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Jupally Krishna Rao - have joined the Congress from the BRS. There are already enough indications that several BJP leaders are set to go back to the Congress. Now everyone is waiting for Operation Akarsh, wherein the ruling pink party will outmatch everyone and poach some big leaders, especially from the Congress. While rumours abound, the announcements are still not yet out.
FLOODS LEAD TO POLITICAL MUDSLINGING
Amidst the fallout from the deluge that drowned large swathes of Telangana state in the past week, the question now doing the rounds is which party has emerged as the reigning champion of public causes. Both the opposition parties, the Congress and the BJP, have gone hammer and tongs, blaming the powers that be for ignoring green-thinking and creating policies that have resulted in localised floods. They also blamed the government for waiting for a disaster to happen instead of taking proactive steps. With the rains subsiding, leaders of both Opposition parties have begun hitting the flooded streets, doing some disaster PR for their parties hoping that their efforts to blame the government will yield political dividend when elections come around. Will the opposition parties plodding their way through the muddy flood waters reap the results? Only time will tell.
LAND OF MOUSTACHES AND GUNFIRE
A moustache makes a man. Not too sure about that, but twirling one and throwing down a challenge sure makes for great political brouhaha, ending with police firing in the air in Andhra Pradesh. This unfortunate incident recently occurred in Vinukonda the other day with YSRC MLA Bolla Brahma Naidu throwing a challenge while twirling his moustache in the direction of former TD MLA G.V.S. Anjaneyulu. The two politicians, followed by their supporters, happened to cross paths on a street. Words were exchanged, the supporters shoved each other, and Naidu taking matters into his hands, stepped out of his car and challenged Anjaneyulu to a debate. This too was OK apparently with the TD workers but what got their goat was Naidu’s moustache play. When things started getting out of hand, the police on bandobast duty fired a few shots in the air sending YSRC and TD workers scurrying for cover.
NAIDU-JAGAN FIGHT IT OUT ON FACTS
Getting the attention of the crowd and holding on to it is the key to finally getting some votes. In Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu believe they have figured this out. Jagan has the habit of backing everything he talks about with facts and figures, which has left a deep impression on not only his own party leaders but the common people as well. The reason is the high credibility that Jagan enjoys. Not to be outdone, Naidu has now started making PowerPoint presentations on various subjects he talks about. Whether what he says is the truth or not, and what people will believe, it certainly is coming better packaged these days.
POLITICIAN FIBS ABOUT EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
If only. If only this, and if only that. This is a common refrain in all walks of life, and more so in politics. A Telugu politician is apparently pondering about this very question. If only the National Education Policy can be applied retrospectively. The NEP allows students from any stream to take courses in a stream completely different from their core study areas these days, and a politician who had bragged once that he passed BCom with physics as one of his subjects long ago is now reported to be wondering if the NEP can help in making his claims true.
