New Delhi: Ally or adversary, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party may have to decide soon as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to strengthen its organisation and launch issue-based warfare against the newly elected government.
Despite the more-than-forthcoming support of YSRCP on crucial issues like abrogation of Article 370, bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and the anti-terrorism UAPA bill, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to grow in Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, the state co-in-charge and national secretary of the BJP, Sunil Deodhar, said the party was aiming to come to power in the next Assembly polls in the state where it has a massive potential to grow.
“Though the YSR Congress has provided us issue-based support, the BJP has not lost track of the fact that regional political outfits are often bound by their regional goals. Only a party like the BJP can fulfil the national aspirations of a state’s population. We are not looking at occupying principal Opposition space. Rather, we are eyeing the ruling party space,” Mr Deodhar said.
He also pointed out that instead of going after the newly-elected YSRCP government in the state, the party has decided to take up a local issue-based andolan against it. “We have decided to pick up district-wise issues, like non-delivery of services, lack of roads or corruption to corner the state government,” he added. The move is expected to bring the party closer to the common people by addressing the issues faced by them directly, he added.
The senior BJP leader, who is also credited with the party’s massive victory in Tripura, dislodging the left front government from office after 25 years, pointed out that the party had already achieved a target of over eight lakh new members in the state.
“We hope to reach 25 lakh members by January next year. All political roads of Andhra Pradesh are leading to the BJP. No one is joining the TDP, YSRCP and JanaSena. Their leaders are trying their best to form an alliance,” he said.
BJP chief Amit Shah has often pointed that the party has not yet achieved its full potential in terms of expansion and the number of seats it can secure across the country.
“In keeping with this goal, we feel that Andhra Pradesh has a huge potential for growth of the party. We have decided to increase the number of pravaas of our central leaders in the state where they can interact with the grassroots. Also, we will expand our contact programme in all south Indian states and build on our number of party workers,” he added.
