VIJAYAWADA: After the denial of tickets to contest in the upcoming general elections, at least three BJP State leaders have skipped the party’s office bearers’ meeting held in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
Of them, two were denied tickets while the other leader is likely to get the Assembly ticket in place of Lok Sabha which he had sought, leading to heart-burn, sources said.
One of the leaders reportedly went incommunicado. The party leaders could not reach him over phone while another leader was in Vijayawada itself but did not attend the meeting citing health grounds.
The meeting was reportedly held to finalise candidates for the Assembly segments that the party is contesting. AP election in-charge and party national general secretary Arun Singh, AP election co-incharge Siddharth Nath Singh and party State president D Purandeswari attended the meeting.
Apart from the denial of tickets, what is making them unhappy is that the party leadership rolled out a red-carpet to turncoats like CM Ramesh, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, and others who have joined the party recently. Those who did not attend the meeting were former State BJP unit president Somu Veerraju, State vice-president S Vishnuvardhan Reddy, and GVL Narasimha Rao.
Sources said Veerraju wanted to contest the Rajamahendravaram MP seat but the party chose Purandeswari. Though Veerraju was assured of the Rajamahendravaram Rural Assembly seat, he was not happy.
Rajamahendravaram Rural seat was earlier allotted to TDP. The party had even announced the candidature of senior leader Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary for the segment.
“Veeraraju was hopeful of getting Rajamahendravaram Lok Sabha seat as he was eased out as president and appointed as a member of the party’s national executive committee. However, the party chose Purandeswari leaving him high and dry,” a senior leader said.
Vishnuvardhan Reddy, on the other hand, aspired to contest from either Hindupur MP seat or Kadiri Assembly segment. However, the TDP was keen on contesting both the seats as it has a formidable cadre as well as strong leaders in both the constituencies. As part of maintaining a balance among castes, the party did not consider Vishnuvardhan Reddy. The party had decided to accommodate former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for Rajampet Lok Sabha seat.
Similarly, the TDP was reluctant to concede Visakhapatnam MP seat to the BJP where its leader GVL Narasimha Rao made enough spadework.
One leader, who did not pick up the telephone calls from the leaders, said that it was the only way to register his protest for being denied the ticket in preference for “newcomers.”
Of the six candidates announced by the party, Narasapuram MP contestant Bhupathiraju Srinivas Varma is the lone one who was a BJP man while the remaining are turncoats. There were reports that party national secretary Y Satya Kumar skipped the meeting. He, however, posted on X that he had informed the party in advance that he would not be attending it as he has election related responsibilities in other states.
Commenting on the development, former MP YS Chowdary said Somu Veerraju could not attend the meeting as he was feeling feverish. “The remaining leaders may not have attended as the meeting was convened at short notice,’’ he maintained.
Only Narasapuram MP pick BJP loyalist
Of the six candidates announced by the party, Narasapuram MP contestant Bhupathiraju Srinivas Varma is the lone one who was a BJP man while the remaining are turncoats
