HYDERABAD: The beleaguered BJP got a major shot in the arm ahead of the elections with two senior leaders, one each from the TDP and BRS, joining the saffron party fold on Saturday. Former ministers C Krishna Yadav and J Chittaranjan Das, along with their followers, joined the BJP in the presence of party State president G Kishan Reddy at the party office at Nampally.
While Yadav served as a minister in the erstwhile AP government, Das earned the title of “giant killer” for defeating former chief minister NT Rama Rao from Kalwakurthy in the 1989 Assembly elections. The list of new entrants into the BJP included tier 1 and tier 2 level leaders from the BRS and Congress, as well as State leaders of the youth wings of the Congress.
Speaking on the occasion, BJP election management committee chairman Eatala Rajender said that Surender, an important Congress leader from Khammam, and YSRCP Khammam district president Sudheer too joined the BJP. Rajender said that more key leaders from other parties from Peddapalli, Manthani and Dharmapuri would also jump to the saffron bandwagon soon.
Chittaranjan Das said that he took the decision to join the BJP after being invited by Rajender and DK Aruna and having spoken with Kishan Reddy. He said that corruption was ruling the roost in the State and if either the Congress or BRS came to power again, land grabbing would become the order of the day.
Krishna Yadav said that the people are waiting to end the corrupt rule of BRS.
Kishan said that the people were realising the height of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s autocracy, corruption, family rule, arrogance and loot and that the slogan of the season was “KCR hatao, Telangana bachao”.
“You’ll stay in Pragathi Bhavan for 90 more days. After that, you’ll permanently have to stay in your farmhouse,” the BJP State president predicted, adding that even if the Congress gave 60 guarantees instead of six, the people would not believe it.