No change in Telangana BJP chief, Bandi Sanjay to continue: Kishan Reddy

WARANGAL: BJP senior leader and Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that there would not be any change in guard in Telangana BJP leadership.

Kishan Reddy, who was in town to take stock of the preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Warangal on July 8, 2023, addressed the media, accompanied by BJP state President Bandi Sanjay and Huzurabad MLA Etala Rajender. To a question during the course of the interaction with the media, Kishan Reddy cleared the air, saying that the BJP state president in Telangana would not be replaced.

The assertion assumes significance in the wake of recent reports on a national-level exercise by the BJP to fortify its units in election-bound states with senior Union ministers. It is being speculated that a blueprint had been chalked out to deploy Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Thomar as the chief of BJP’s state unit in Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, Bhupendra Pradhan will also be assigned with the party responsibility in his home State of Odisha.

Treading on the same line, it is widely expected that the BJP Central leadership would replace party’s Telangana State President and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Union Minister Kishan Reddy. Subsequent to this, there were reports of the speculated move causing twin headaches for the party leadership. Kishan Reddy reportedly conveyed his reluctance to take up the mantle as he was not sure of gearing up the party machinery for elections in such a short span of time. On the flip side, there was also a talk of the reported move leaving Bandi Sanjay feeling humiliated and slighted.

The media circles were abuzz with the rumours in the last two days that the Karimnagar MP had in fact offered to step down and refused to take up any position that would be given to him in rehabilitation, including a berth in the Union Cabinet.

Against this backdrop, Kishan Reddy on Sunday addressed the media with Bandi Sanjay and Etala Rajender in tow to dispel any misgivings on frictions within the party. Etala is already in the news over his rumoured disenchantment with the saffron party and plans to move closer to the Congress party. Kishan Reddy not only clarified on the speculated change in leadership in Telangana BJP but also tried his best to present a picture of internal amity and bonhomie.

15 lakh people for Modi public meeting in Warangal on July 8

Speaking about the BJP’s preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting on July 8, Kishan Reddy said that plans were afoot to mobilise 15 lakh people for the event to turn Warangal into an election battlefield (Orugallu nu Porugallu gaa maruddam). Stating that the event would be organised under the name ‘Vijaya Sankalpa Sabha’, the Union minister said that the public meeting would be held as early as 9 am on that day.

He said that Narendra Modi would worship Goddess Bhadrakali during his maiden visit to Warangal after becoming the Prime Minister. “We have been urging the Prime Minister to visit Warangal for quite some time, which is becoming a reality now. The Centre will accord the highest priority to infrastructure development in the city. Warangal is already being groomed as a smart city under the ‘Amrit Nagar’ project. Under the directions of Narendra Modi, the 1,000-pillar temple is also being given a facelift,” he said.

Speaking about the Regional Ring Road, he said that the Rs 26.000-crore project would be executed with the dual participation of both the State and the Central Governments at 50 percent each. He sought to put the onus on the State Government, stating that the pace of the project initiation by the Centre purely depended on the swiftness with which the lands were acquired by the State and handed over to the National Highways Authority of India. He also referred to the Hyderabad Outer Ring Rail Project that the Centre has recently approved and the project to extend the MMTS service up to Yadadri at a cost of Rs 330 crores.

BJP, only alternative to BRS

Kishan Reddy took potshots at both the BRS and the Congress on this occasion. In a derisive retort to a question, he wondered if Congress really existed in Telangana. He claimed that the grand-old party failed to secure deposits right from the Dubbak by-election to the recent MLC elections under the teachers’ constituency. Kishan Reddy ridiculed that the Congress was in a disarray so much so that it was unable to declare if the Khammam public meeting was being organised to mark the end of padayatra (of Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka) or for the sake of induction of political migrants.

The Union minister claimed that the BJP was the only alternative to the BRS in Telangana. He alleged that both the BRS and the Congress had been tacitly working together, both inside and outside Parliament with the objective of defeating the BJP.

BRS Government should establish Bayyaram steel plant

Kishan Reddy demanded the BRS Government led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) to establish the steel plant in Bayyaram of Khammam in accordance with its promise made during the last elections. He said that turning the long-pending project into a reality was the sole responsibility of the State Government.