HYDERABAD: On a day when the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule of Lok Sabha elections, State BJP chief K Laxman said that the saffron party has already got into the poll mode to ensure victory in a large number of seats.
Leaving the disappointment of their debacle in the Assembly elections behind, the party seem to be working on a war footing to mobilise the voter support and win more than one seat in the 17 parliamentary constituencies in the State. “We do not even have a month for elections,” he said but held that “the BJP has already started its poll preparation with several union ministers addressing 14 parliamentary constituencies in the State.”
He was speaking at ‘BC Atma Gaurava Sabha’ in Secunderabad. “Parliament elections are for the nation, Modi is the first BC to become a PM. He has spearheaded the welfare schemes for BCs. We will definitely win and form the government,” he asserted.
Later, Laxman left for New Delhi to hold an “emergency meeting” with party’s national president Amit Shah. The meeting, scheduled for Monday, will finalise the BJP’s candidates for parliamentary elections. Besides BJP president Amit Shah, Union ministers Smriti Irani, Nitin Gadkari and several other ministers have already visited the State to address party workers. BJP general secretaries Ram Madhav and P Muralidhar Rao are also having a close look at the party activities in the State.
Currently, the BJP has one parliamentary member in the form of veteran leader Bandaru Dattatreya. However, the party is hoping to go beyond its single seat and eying Nizamabad and Karimnagar seats. There are speculations among party workers that either G Kishan Reddy or K Laxman may contest in Malkajgiri. The saffron party is also looking to have it’s BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao contest from Karimnagar seat. However, the coming days of electioneering will say if the BJP top brass will consider the State parliamentary seats to be important in adding numbers to its total tally.