HYDERABAD: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday set the state BJP unit a target of securing 10 Lok Sabha seats and a 35 per cent vote share in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Shah, who was in the city for party-related works and is incharge of
Telangana state for the Lok Sabha polls, said it was “not an impossible
task” to achieve his targets, citing how the party went from securing nine
per cent vote share in Gujarat to securing two-thirds of the seats in the
subsequent polls.
Addressing the party’s state-level meeting in Hyderabad, he said, “The party has increased its strength from one MLA seat in 2018 Assembly polls to eight in 2023. We will secure 95 seats in the next Assembly polls for sure. While the Congress is a sinking ship, the BRS has already sunk and the BJP is the only alternative. Ours is the only party which stands by its words and abolished Article 370 and introduced new laws.”
“People have voted against the BRS and did not give a positive vote for the Congress. The party cadre should use the Viksit Bharat to meet beneficiaries of various schemes. The baggage of the Congress and its corruption runs for four generations, unlike the BRS, with two generations of family rule,” he said.
Enthusing the cadres, he egged them on to state publicly the number of seats the party would win, compared to the the four parliamentary seats it currently holds.
“While Congress is a family party and is steeped in corruption, the BRS, which hobnobbed with the AIMIM, has been restricted to the farmhouse. KCR is no less corrupt. He and his family are neck deep in corruption than the Congress and the BJP should fight against these parties, which are also family entities,” he said.
He said that the Central government gave Telangana Rs 9 lakh crore for its development. “The party is committed to the categorisation of SCs. We are giving free ration to 80 crore Indians,” he said.
While electing a legislature leader for Telangana state was on the cards, it did not take place due to paucity of time. Sources, however, indicated that the leader will be elected shortly.
Before the address, in internal discussions, Shah reportedly warned leaders to bury their differences that could harm the party. Reportedly pointing to Etala Rajendar and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who do not see eye to eye, Shah asked them to work together and keep aside their personal interests. He also asked them to stop making allegations against each other or making leaks to the media.
In a separate press meet on the day, Dr K. Laxman said, “The party has increased its strength from one MLA to eight currently. Congress has only benefitted from the antagonism among the people to the BRS and KCR family. The people were only swayed because of local factors in the Assembly polls and the situation will be different in the parliamentary polls.”
Etala Rajendar said that “people of all cultures from Kanyakumari to
Arunachal Pradesh” were with the BJP and that the party, which increased its vote share from 6.8 per cent in 2018 to 15 per cent in the recent polls, would fare much better in the Lok Sabha polls.
