HYDERABAD: The stage is all set for G Vivek who left the TRS recently to join the BJP even though the admission of another leader Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy into the saffron brigade is taking long.
Vivek, who fell out of TRS when Peddapalli ticket was denied to him, has been waiting for the opportune time to join the BJP.
He, of late, sources said, has been finding it increasingly suffocating to remain outside the TRS in the wake of the running feud he has with the pink party leaders not only in Peddapalli but also in Hyderabad.
According to sources, Vivek has made up his mind to take the plunge. He will be formally inducted into the party in the presence of party president Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday.
While this is so, the BJP is unable to make up its mind on whether or not to take Rajgopal Reddy into the party. This is, according to sources, on account of its inability to satisfy his conditions - which include making him the president of the party Telangana unit or sending him to Rajya Sabha.
“If one wants to join the BJP, it should be unconditional. You can not come with demands. If you are interested in your long-term future, then BJP welcomes you,” one senior party leader said, ruling out meeting his “either, or” demands.
Rajgopal uneasy
According to sources, Rajgopal Reddy is also uneasy in joining the BJP since it might lead to his disqualification as MLA. He has been waiting for the party to suspend him so that he could don saffron robes but the party is tiring him out.
He cannot take the risk of joining the BJP even though Congress does not suspend him since the TRS would be too happy to curtail his ambition of joining the BJP and stay as a legislator. The Speaker could disqualify him so that the BJP would not get a second legislator in the Assembly.
The sources said that some BJP leaders are not all that gung-ho overtaking him after a sound file went viral in which a voice attributed to Rajgopal Reddy was heard telling his party workers that after joining the BJP, he would become the chief minister of Telangana in the next elections.
Though there were denials, the seed of suspicion that he is looking for a bigger role in BJP, was, however, sown.
One BJP leader said: “We have been taking everyone who is interested in joining us. Why should we deny entry to Rajgopal Reddy? He should keep in mind that in BJP, one gets top positions only after imbibing party’s philosophy and growing organically by working shoulder to shoulder with other leaders for a considerable period of time.”