Top BJP leaders discuss plan to strengthen party in Telangana at meeting

The meeting, held at party president J P Nadda’s residence was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay, discussed the party’s campaign programmes and other strategy.

BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, general secretaries in-charge of state Sunil Bansal and Tarun Chugh, national vice-president D K Aruna, Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharampuri, other core group members Sudhakar Reddy (TN co-incharge), K Laxman, G Kishan Reddy, Vijay Santhi, Vivek Venkatswamy, Etala Rajendran, G Mohan Rao and P Muralidhar Rao also attended the meeting.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of Bandi Sanjay preparing to start another phase of his Praja Sangrama Yatra to highlight the “anti-people policies” of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in Telangana. The BJP has successfully undertaken 11,000 public meeting outreach programmes in the state under him. The main focus of the party campaign so far has been on “exposing” the state government under K Chandrasekhar Rao. Bansal was in Telangana for almost a week as he was given a target to organise 11,000 street corner meetings or ‘Nukkad Sabhas’ with the same purpose.

Every leader involved with the Telangana unit has been asked to be available for the party programmes in the coming days in the state, sources added.

In a statement after the meeting, Sanjay said that he and other party leaders from the state briefed the national leadership on the “successful completion” of 11,000 street corner meetings under the programme “Praja Gosa, BJP Bharosa” (people angry, trust in BJP). “The party high-command was immensely pleased with the outcome and directed the state leadership to undertake steps to strengthen the organisation further. They have advised us to intensify the struggle against the KCR-led government which is mired in corruption,” he said.

The state president also said the BJP will contest on its own in all 119 Assembly constituencies.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of the CBI arresting Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the alleged liquor scam case in which the BJP has claimed that BRS leader K Kavitha is also involved. Kavitha has denied the charges. The CBI has arrested a Hyderabad-based chartered accountant in the case, and the BJP has alleged his links with her. Although party leaders were saying the probe could be extended to Kavitha, the party sources said there was no discussion about it in the Tuesday meeting.

To a question from the media, Sanjay said the BJP has no role in charges levelled against Kavitha and AAP leaders in the case of alleged corruption in framing excise policy, now withdrawn, in Delhi.