Senior BJP leaders to camp in other Assembly segments in TS to boost prospects

HYDERABAD: Senior leaders from the BJP, including MPs and legislators, will camp in Assembly constituencies for three to 20 days in a month in its bid to strengthen the party prospects in the upcoming Assembly elections. Incidentally, they have been given responsibilities of constituencies other than their native constituencies. This strategy worked wonders in Uttar Pradesh, goes the reasoning.

Naming the constituency in-charges as ‘palaks’, the party high command directed them to stay in constituencies that were allotted to them. This is bound to usher in changes in the party’s functioning and stabilize their presence ahead of the next elections, many party leaders opined.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, though only T. Raja Singh was elected, party candidates M. Raghunandan Rao and Etala Rajendar were elected in the byelections to Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly segments, respectively. Overwhelmed with the bypoll victory, BJP is aiming to capture power in Telangana state.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Adilabad MP Soyam Bapu Rao said that the party high command designated him as in-charge of Mulugu Assembly constituency.

“I will stay in Mulugu for three days from January 5. It is not a difficult task for senior leaders to stay in other Assembly constituencies and interact with the local cadre. We will reap immense benefits in the ensuing Assembly elections,” Rao said on a confident note.

However, a ticket aspirant from north Telangana district, who did not wish to be named, said that staying in other Assembly constituencies would not beat fruit.

“We are carefully building up the party base in our respective constituencies. At this juncture, how can we be asked to keep away from areas that we have been nurturing”, he said.

Political situation and equations are different in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, he opined.

In his reaction, Soyam Bapu Rao said that there are no hard and fast rules in delegation of Assembly constituency responsibilities.

“If any leader is unwilling to stay away from his native constituency, the individual will be relieved from such responsibilities”, he clarified.