HYDERABAD: Close on the heels of its debacle in Karnataka, the BJP appears to be heading towards a crisis of sorts in Telangana. As many as nine prominent leaders are understood to have issued an ultimatum to the party’s central leadership to replace State party chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Huzurabad legislator Eatala Rajender or face a revolt.
Reliable sources in the party told TNIE that the dissidents have made it clear that they would not hesitate to quit the party if Sanjay is retained. It is also learnt that the group of nine have urged Rajender, who is the chairman of the BJP’s “joinings committee” to bid adieu to the BJP in case he is not made the State party chief and float a new outfit. “Their idea is that the new outfit could strike an alliance with the Congress,” the sources said.
In the wake of these developments, Rajender rushed to Delhi on Monday to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It remains to be seen how the BJP's high command will react. The dissident leaders are also trying for an appointment with the top leadership to “explain the party position at the ground level” but have not got an audience yet. The rebel leaders are unhappy that after the Munugode bypoll, no prominent leader from any other party has joined the BJP and put the blame for the same on Sanjay.
If the party’s central leadership does not respond to their plea for a change of guard, they are planning to leave en masse and contest at least 25 Assembly seats after forming a party. A senior dissident leader told TNIE: “We are trying to form a new political party in Telangana with a BC leader at the helm. We have discussed the idea with several leaders in the party as well as those in other parties. If we quit the BJP, we will strike a pre-poll alliance with Congress and contest a good number of seats in the Assembly elections later this year.”
He also claimed that in the event of the party not changing Sanjay, all those, who had joined the party after the 2018 Assembly elections, would leave and strengthen the hands of the BC leader. They allege the reports that are reaching the leadership are skewed in favour of Sanjay.
On the other hand, former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and former MLA Jupally Krishna Rao who are watching the developments are learnt to be in talks over inviting the BJP dissidents to form a broad alliance to fight the BRS.
Following the BJP’s rout in Karnataka, the party leadership is expected to listen to the dissidents, who have their fingers crossed over the outcome of the meeting between Amit Shah and Eatala. A senior leader said it was indeed Shah who had summoned Eatala to Delhi to assess the impact of the Karnataka elections on Telangana. But, it appears the immediate task of the high command is to keep its flock together in the State.