Dubbaka BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao ‘airs’ disgust, chickens out later

NEW DELHI: Dubbaka MLA Raghunandan Rao has raised the banner of revolt against the party leadership for ignoring him and letting the conventional and social media blow it up through the day on Monday. But soon after the sunset, he chickened out, claiming that words were put in his mouth and that he had never uttered what was attributed to him all day long.

Now, he is crooning homilies and began posturing as a loyal worker of the BJP. What’s funny is that he used his behind-the-scene network to speak his mind ‘off the record’.

The deliberate leaks are not new to anyone. Once the intended purpose is served, it’s quite common for many politicians to rubbish the stories woven around them and feign ignorance.

Raghunandan Rao’s barbs at the leadership and his eventual volte-face were neither unexpected nor unforeseen. He timed his initial chutzpah and subsequent quirky retraction only to strike the proverbial iron when it’s hot.

Taking a U-turn he trashed all the comments he allegedly made against the BJP leaders including party national president JP Nadda and state president Bandi Sanjay while chit-chatting with media at the residence of Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy.

The sulking leader later addressed the media at the Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi and clarified that he never made such comments. He said that he was a loyal worker and ready to shoulder any responsibility bestowed upon him.

Earlier during the day, Raghunandan Rao created a flutter in the political circles in the national capital with his comments reported widely in the media. He reportedly said that, if he was not given the post of BJP state president or the floor leader post in the Telangana Assembly, he would complain against JP Nadda to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Dubbaka MLA reportedly reiterated that he toiled for the party for a decade but the party had ignored him. He said that he would never leave BJP and expressed confidence that he would contest and get elected from the same constituency. Even while speaking with the media in the evening he said that only his picture on the poster and the BJP symbol helped him win the by-election in Dubbaka.

He refuted the earlier reports quoting him as saying that BJP splurged Rs 100 crore for the Munugodu by-election and Bandi Sanjay paying for his fallacies. However, Raghunandan was unapologetic over his demand for a fair position in the party to recognise his decade-long hard work for the BJP.

It was also reported widely in the media in the morning that the Dubbaka MLA had said that posters of BJP leaders Tarun Chugh and Sanjay Bansal would not fetch votes in Telangana. Raghunandan Rao and Etela Rajender only could make a dent, he was reported to have said.