BJP strongman Amit Shah’s visit to Vijayawada, whenever that happens, since his immediate three-day visit from August 28 has been postponed, appears to be primarily intended to make the party poll-ready with or without the alliance with the Telugu Desam Party.Though the TDP has been a trusted friend of the BJP, the saffron party, like any other party, wants to grow independently by coming out of the TDP’s shadow in Andhra Pradesh.Already in mission mode with his target 350 programme, BJP’s Jadugar has already asked the party leaders in AP to examine the option A of sailing with the TDP and option B of charting its own course. For the time being, the TDP-BJP applecart will continue its journey though with slight bumps here and there, but in the long run the party seems to be having its own plans. Amit Shah, in his recent visit to the State, had said the BJP wants AP to become the gateway to the South which amply and eloquently speaks of the party’s ambitions in the wake of its resounding victories in the North.
As far as TDP is concerned, the BJP State leaders say breaking or making alliances are usually done at the time of elections and in the meanwhile, the BJP like any other party is interested in trying to increase its reach to parts where its presence is not very satisfactory rather than breaking the bond of friendship which may not fetch any immediate results. “We discus alliances at the time of elections and not now,” said a BJP leader while not ruling out anything that might be unsavoury to the TDP.
As Amit Shah wants the party to be in power in Delhi for the next 50 years - which is a very very long shot - it appears he is making a foray into AP though it is difficult to predict to what extent he would be successful since the TDP is very strong in the State with the YSRC close on its heels.
When Amit Shah’s programme in Vijayawada was finalised, it became clear that he wanted to be a listener to the opinions of the party workers at various levels so that he could finally draw a blueprint for the party to emerge strong in the State. Though it is not clear when he would visit Vijayawada but it would surely happen before long as he is now preoccupied with reconstitution of the Central Cabinet which is also being keenly watched by the party State leaders with M Venkaiah Naidu, the towering personality from AP, having moved on to become the Vice-President of India, leaving a void for Amit Shah to fill.
Vizag MP K Haribabu has been steering the party well till now. But his main source of strength being Venkaiah Naidu, may not be available to him for consultation from now on.
As he has already served his three-year tenure as the party State chief long ago and has been on borrowed time, it is believed that Amit Shah would attend to finding a replacement to Haribabu whether or not he is taken into the Central Cabinet. But the buzz in the BJP circles is that the party is considering taking one MP from AP as the Minister of State and it could be either Haribabu or Gokaraju Gangaraju.
According to sources, the BJP top leadership wants Haribabu in the Cabinet as some sort of a palliative to him since he has remained unhappy over the promise of creating a railway zone with Vizag as headquarters remaining on paper till now.
If Haribabu moves into the Cabinet, then who should lead the BJP in the State? This has been a problem hanging fire for a very long time with quite a number of names doing the rounds all the time but none seemed to have cut much ice with the BJP chief. There is also a chance of the party picking up Gangaraju to lead the party if Haribabu moves into the Cabinet. Gangaraju who is from RSS stock has good equations with Amit Shah.Party sources said the names of Rajahmundry MLA Akula Satyanarayana and MLC Somu Veerraju are also under consideration since they happen to belong to Kapu community which is numerically strong in the coastal belt, having a potential to tilt scales in an election.
There are aspirants from those who made lateral entry into BJP - Kanna Lakshminarayana and Daggubati Purandeswari - but they may not be hot favourites since they are not BJP leaders from inside.
Sources said that Amit Shah wants the party to grow independent of TDP but is not yet ready take any decision that would rock the TDP-BJP honeymoon. But at the same time, the party is also “not against” the YSRC with the saffron leadership showing equal importance to both Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. But the BJP leaders have their own ideas as to how to make the party stronger and they will become known only as they take a clear shape in Amit Shah’s mind.
Assistant Resident Editor, Vijayawada raj@newIndianexpress.com