VIJAYAWADA: Former governor and senior BJP leader C Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday said that the party’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana units will soon have new presidents. Observing that the BJP was the only alternative to regional parties in both Telugu-speaking States, he said it would now work with a renewed spirit.
Speaking to the reporters after meeting BJP national president JP Nadda in New Delhi on Thursday, Vidyasagar Rao said, “There will be new presidents in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Whoever the president is, they will take the party forward by working with everyone... There will be faster changes in Andhra Pradesh than in Telangana.”
While there are no clear frontrunners for the post of the state president of the BJP, several leaders within the party are vying for the post. Incumbent state chief Kanna Lakshminarayana is learnt to be confident of retaining the post. While senior leader D Purandeswari reportedly said that she was out of the race, discussions have begun among party cadre as to who would take up the reins of the party.
In the months before Kanna’s appointment as the president in May 2018, names of leaders including Somu Veerraju, Pydikondala Manikyala Rao, Purandeswari and others did the rounds as potential candidates to lead the party after the TDP severed its ties with the BJP. When Kanna was named the party chief, Somu Veerraju was made the convenor of election management committee. Kanna’s appointment came when speculation was rife that the once Congress strongman was ready to join the YSRC in 2018.
With under a year left for the elections, Kanna put in place the state organisation, which till then was disorganised.
However, the party suffered a debacle in the 2019 assembly and general elections with just one per cent votes and losing deposits almost everywhere. Sources claimed that the BJP has set its eye to grow in Andhra Pradesh as an alternative to the regional parties. But, the saffron party has recently hitched its wagon to Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena and is preparing the ground to contest the upcoming local body elections together. Together, both the parties want to put an end to ‘dynastic and corrupt’ politics in the State. While the party has almost finished appointing mandal and district presidents, the State chief is expected to be elected shortly.