VIJAYAWADA: Even as the local body elections are just a couple of weeks away, the BJP State unit is still seems to be grappling with internal contradictions. While the party has made efforts after its poll debacle last year, the issue of Amaravati has virtually divided the party, which is still in the process of devising a political strategy with its new-found ally Jana Sena, with some leaders claiming that the Centre would intervene at an appropriate time and some vehemently denying it.
In the past, the BJP leaders have expressed different opinions on the issues related to Andhra Pradesh. While YS Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary), who joined the BJP from the TDP, has expressed confidence that the Centre will not keep mum on the issue of capital relocation, his colleague in Parliament and party national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao repeatedly clarified that the Union government would not intervene in the issue. The Centre echoed GVL’s views as it stated in Parliament that it was for the States to decide on the capital within their territories.
Even on Thursday, both the Rajya Sabha MPs once again contradicted each other, describing the other’s statements as personal views. This has become a problem for the State unit, which seemingly is disarrayed when it comes to its political plans. “Our national leaders contradicting each other repeatedly has definitely become a problem for us in the State. We are working for strengthening the party ahead of the local body elections, but the contradictory statements are denting our efforts as they are creating a confusion among public. This will ultimately hurt our own prospects in the State in which we are starting from the scratch,” a top-rung leader expressed disappointment.
The party central leadership is also in the process of appointing a new State chief. It was expected that the appointment would be made before the local body polls, but sources said that the central leadership was still working on the issue. The State leaders, on the other hand, are apprehensive that change of leadership may affect the party’s performance in the panchayat and municipal elections due to lack of time. “There are hardly two weeks. So, even if a new face is brought, it may not be of much help,” one office-bearer argued. Names including senior BJP leader P Venugopala Reddy and others are under consideration, sources claimed.
In this context, to galvanise the party, the saffron brigade may ride on the back of its partner Jana Sena. While the seat sharing is yet to be finalised, sources in the party claimed that Pawan Kalyan’s party, which managed to get 7.03 per cent votes in the 2019 elections as against the BJP’s less than one per cent, might get significantly higher seats than planned earlier. “It was initially proposed that the BJP would contest more places, but now we are reassessing the situation. We are going to have a meeting to finalise the same on March 8 in Vijayawada,” another senior leader noted.
The BJP-Jana Sena alliance will also release a manifesto on March 12. The same was announced by Pawan Kalyan and Nadendla Manohar, who held a meeting with BJP leaders Sunil Deodhar and GVL Narasimha Rao in New Delhi on Friday.
How Amaravati divides BJP
While YS Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary) says the Centre will not keep mum on the issue of capital relocation, GVL maintains that the Modi govt will not intervene in the issue
Centre echoed GVL’s views as it stated in Parliament that it was for the States to decide on the capital
New party chief
The party leaders expected that the appointment would be made before the local body polls, but sources said that the central leadership was still working on the issue. The State leaders, on the other hand, are apprehensive that change of leadership may affect the party’s performance in the panchayat and municipal elections due to lack of time
Sena to get more seats?
Pawan Kalyan’s party, which managed to get 7.03 per cent votes in the 2019 elections as against the BJP’s less than one per cent, might get significantly higher seats than planned earlier