HYDERABAD: A tussle is on among leaders in the Telangana BJP for its leadership. Senior leader DK Aruna, who joined the BJP only in March, 2019, is the frontrunner among new comers to the party. But long-time BJP leaders argue that she is not of BJP stuff out and out.
Partymen are also unhappy that Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy is also eyeing the party leadership. He is ready to jump into the saffron bandwagon if offered the reins of the party. Though Rajagopal Reddy is seen frequently in the company of BJP leaders, he is yet to take the plunge. Aruna has been making rounds of the corridors of power in Delhi, trying to woo the leadership.
Party seniors complain that Aruna made a lateral entry into the BJP on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections. She lost Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat to TRS candidate M Srinivas Reddy. Though Aruna had help from Jitender Reddy, who too joined the BJP after TRS refused to renominate him to the seat, she could not defeat Srinivas Reddy.
Meanwhile, party state unit president K Laxman’s term has already ended but he has been asked to continue for some more time. State leaders feel that Aruna’s political ideology does not match with that of the BJP.
A senior leader of the party said, "DK Aruna and Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy want to take over the reins of the party. But in BJP, one does not get a position by asking for it. The party leadership will decide who is the best to be the president at the appropriate time." Another leader asked, "How can we allow an outsider to just walk in today and become party president?"