Telangana BJP hopes for improvement in Lok Sabha elections, hectic lobbying starts, Amit Shah to visit State

HYDERABAD: The mission for the Telangana unit of the BJP is to win at least eight out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, to put the saffron party in a comfortable position at the centre in the ensuing elections.

After the debacle in the recent Assembly polls in the State, the party's national leadership wishes to set the Stage right for the 2028 Assembly elections, where the party might have a chance as the defeat of the formidable BRS in the hands of Congress exposed the chinks in the armor of the pink party.

The Telangana BJP leaders strongly believe that the fight would be between them and the Congress as the Lok Sabha elections were fought on issues concerning the nation rather than the regional ones. The BJP exuded confidence that the Narendra Modi plank would do the magic and its candidates across the southern part of the country, particularly in Telangana would win.

In Telangana, BJP won four MP seats in the last elections. While, sitting MPs Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, National General Secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Dharampuri Arvind, and Soyam Bapu Rao might seek nomination one more time, many senior leaders such as Etela Rajender, DK Aruna, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Muralidhar Rao were keen on contesting as MPs.

With the Lok Sabha Elections likely to be held in April or May of next year, the BJP seniors were expecting that the first list of the candidates might be announced within 40-60 days. Party sources confirmed that the names could be declared before the release of the election schedule.

Sitting MPs Union Tourism Minister and BJP State President G Kishan Reddy (Secunderabad), (Karimnagar) and Arvind Dharmapuri (Nizamabad) have already started lobbying with the party leadership for renominations.

However, Adilabad MP Soyam Bapurao, who contested from the Boath Assembly segment and lost might not get another chance to contest as former MLA Rathod Bapurao, who resigned from BRS and joined BJP before the Assembly elections, former MP Ramesh Rathod, who lost the Khanapur seat, were also in the race for the Adilabad Lok Sabha seat. The BJP proved to be a formidable force in Adilabad’s tribal belt as it had won Adilabad, Nirmal, Sirpur, and Mudhole constituencies in the recent Assembly elections. Other leaders under the party’s consideration were Madhya Pradesh in-charge P Muralidhar, former MP AP Jitender Reddy, and Kalwakurty Assembly candidate T Achari, who were also in the race for the Mahbubnagar ticket.

Former Dubbak MLA M Raghunandan Rao expressed his interest in contesting from Medak, Etela Rajender was seeking to contest from either Malkajgiri or Medak or even Karimnagar. Former MP Konda Vishveshwar Reddy wanted to contest from Chevella and former MP Boora Narsaiah Goud aimed for the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat. BJP national leadership was said to have approved the candidature of Somayappa Swami of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Samaj for the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Other names that made circles in the party grapevine include BJP State General Secretary Bangaru Shruthi, daughter of former BJP President late Bangaru Laxman from Nagarkurnool constituency, former DGP T Krishna Prasad from Warangal. Tamil Nadu co-incharge Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy was keen on the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency.

The mood at the BJP Telangana headquarters was upbeat as the party while winning 8 seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections received 14 percent of votes. Moreover in 19 Assembly constituencies party candidates stood second, and secured deposits in 49 seats. The party aimed to win at least 8-10 Lok Sabha seats by taking the voting percentage to 25.

Amit Shah for State

With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections fast approaching Union Home Minister Amit Shah would be visiting the State on December 28 to prepare the party to win at least 10 seats. He would be participating in a brainstorming session with the State leaders to prepare a road map to achieve the target. Amit Shah would also address a party meeting of 1,200 representatives at Kongarkalan in Ranga Reddy district on that date.

The Union Home Minister was on a mission to garner maximum seats from Telangana, West Bengal, and Odisha. These States were considered as ‘very hopeful’ as the position of BJP improved between the 2024-2019 elections.