Bandaru likely to be next Andhra BJP chief

Union Minister of State Bandaru Dattatraya is likely to be named as the Andhra Pradesh BJP president.

If appointed, he will join a long list of Union Ministers who have been drafted for organisational work by the BJP. The list, headed by none other than party president M. Venkaiah Naidu, includes Pramod Mahajan, Uma Bharati, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh. Sources disclosed here today that the state BJP has approached the high command with a proposal to appoint Dattatraya as the state chief. They said: ‘‘We know he (Dattatraya) is competent. Discussions are on. We have not taken a final decision on the matter.’’ Naidu is learnt to favour the idea, but the proposal awaits clearance by PM A.B. Vajpayee and Dy PM L.K. Advani.

If Dattatraya is appointed, the BJP would obviously fight the next Assembly elections under his leadership. The Assembly polls are due with the Lok Sabha. Sources said: ‘‘The timing (of Dattatraya’s installation) would be decided afterwards.’’ The party is in no hurry, with the elections still far away.

The present incumbent C. Ramachandra Reddy is nearing the completion of his term. In the organisational electoral process, his successor has to be elected by July. A sitting member of the Lok Sabha from Secunderabad, Dattatraya belongs to the backward Yadava community, accounting for nearly seven per cent votes. He shares a good rapport with both Venkaiah Naidu and AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu.