Strategic, intriguing, and conservative, these words summarise the BJP’s choice of leaders for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand. It picked Jat leader Sunil Jakhar, a former Congress state president, to reprise the same role for it in Punjab, evidently hoping to gain ground and repair the damage caused to it during the agitation against the farm laws. In Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi, former chief minister and tribal leader, was a safe bet after the BJP burnt its fingers with the non-tribal leader Raghubar Das in the tribal-dominated state.
The appointments in Telangana and AP, however, are fascinating. Naming Union Minister Kishan Reddy instead of the successful Bandi Sanjay Kumar in Telangana is a tough call. The latter had energised the party and delivered results, including in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections. A Backward Caste leader, he is a true blue Hindutva poster boy. But Sanjay faced opposition from leaders who migrated to the BJP from other parties, which forced the leadership to fall back on Kishan, who had earlier served as the state president in undivided AP and Telangana. Reddy’s tenure was unremarkable, and expectations of him working wonders in the next few months before the state goes to polls are foolhardy. The question then is: What’s the BJP game plan? It seems to have reconciled to keeping the flock together for the Lok Sabha polls without losing leaders to the Congress after calculating that even under Sanjay, it may not win the Assembly elections.
The most strategic announcement is that of Daggubati Purandeswari, the late NTR’s daughter, as the Andhra state president. She brings credibility, which the faceless BJP needs badly in AP. But that is just one dimension. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu sidelined her and her husband after he wrested power from her father. The Daggubati family has, at best, a strained relationship with Naidu. Purandeswari had at one time actively supported her brother Harikrishna when he tried to float a party after being humiliated by Naidu. She brings with her vast experience and political heft thanks to the backing of the powerful Kamma community, which is also the very foundation of the TDP. She could rightfully claim her father’s legacy as well. If one looks at Amit Shah’s meetings with superstar NTR junior, the grandson of NTR with whom Purandeswari has an excellent rapport, the logic behind her anointment becomes clear. Forget about alliance, she could well be Naidu’s nemesis.
