Senior leaders in race for state BJP chief post
![Senior leaders in race for state BJP chief post Senior leaders in race for state BJP chief post](https://www.deccanchronicle.com/h-upload/2025/01/09/1879960-bjp-flag-100830307-16x9.webp)
Vijayawada:Several senior leaders are in the race for the state BJP president post while the party’s national leadership is looking for a change of guard in AP.
More than 20 applications have been received by the party leadership. These were from PVN Madhav (former MLC), Partha Sarathi (MLA, Dhone), P Vishnu Kumar Raju (MLA, Visakhapatnam North), CM Ramesh (MP, Anakapalli), GVL Narasimha Rao (Former MP), Sujana Choudhary (MLA, Vijayawada West), S Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (AP BJP vice president), among others.
Among the front-runners in the race are former MLC PVN Madhav and Dhone MLA Partha Sarathi.
Though state party chief D Purandeswari has completed only 15 months in office, the BJP national leadership is keen on a change. While she had served as a Union minister and held senior positions in the BJP in New Delhi, she is facing criticism that she is not touring the state to strengthen the party.
A senior leader and an aspirant for the top post said, “Our party needs a leader who can strengthen the party by winning the upcoming polls to the urban/rural local bodies.”
Some aspirants are visiting Delhi in the guise of helping the party in the assembly poll campaign there, even without getting an invitation and are rather involved in lobbying for the post.
Purandeswari is the only woman president for the party in the entire country. The BJP national leadership is in the process of accommodating various sections of the society to the top post. There is also a chance to retain her in the same position, a BJP source said.