Eatala meets ‘troubleshooter’ Himanta in Assam

HYDERABAD: The Telangana unit of the BJP was abuzz on Friday after news emerged that Huzurabad MLA and chairman of the party’s ‘joinings committee’ Eatala Rajender met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the northeastern State.

Rajender, accompanied by former MLA Enugu Ravinder Reddy, reportedly discussed the situation in the State BJP with Sarma. Rajender’s visit follows several meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national President JP Nadda. The MLA is said to be unhappy with the current State leadership, and if the rumour mill is to be believed, he had asked the party high command to consider changes in the setup.

Rajender met with Shah three times in Delhi within a month, expressing concerns over the lack of growth of the BJP and the reluctance of prominent leaders to join the saffron party. He reportedly also alleged the presence of a ‘covert’ within the party allegedly working for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The lack of progress in attracting new members and the apparent disregard for his suggestions to strengthen the party’s position has reportedly left the Eatala camp on the edge, with some of his supporters calling for Rajender to replace Bandi Sanjay as the BJP State chief.

With elections on the horizon, the BJP high command, particularly Shah, has entrusted Sarma with the role of troubleshooter to address the issues within Telangana BJP. Meanwhile, a section of the party believes that despite reports emerging to the contrary, the high command is reluctant to go for a change of leadership in the State at this juncture as the Assembly elections are barely five months away.

The buzz is that the high command will appoint Rajender as the chairman of the BJP Campaign Committee for Telangana. However, this has not enthused the Eatala camp, as it has the potential to create even more fissures within the party.

Sarma and Eatala share a prior acquaintance, having met several times in Delhi during Finance Commission meetings. Both had served as finance ministers in their respective States. The challenge now for Sarma would be how to convince Eatala to assume the role of Campaign Committee chairman.