HYDERABAD: The BJP is aiming to win at least 10 seats and increase its vote share in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The party’s state and constituency-level leaders and cadre are already at work in the segments with the party’s national leadership giving them the go-ahead to focus on ground-level preparation.
Party sources said that the national leadership is getting survey reports every week from the Lok Sabha constituencies and is tweaking its action plan accordingly. The party is planning a high-voltage campaign in the next 10 days.
According to sources, the party is fully focused on Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Zaheerabad, Medak and Nagarkurnool constituencies. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won four seats — Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Secunderabad. Now, it wants to better the score by bagging at least nine out of the total 17 seats in the state.
The party is also focusing on inorganic growth by engineering defections from BRS. It has already landed sitting MPs BB Patil (Zaheerabad) and P Ramulu (Nagarkurnool-SC). The party has named BB Patil as its candidate in Zaheerabad while it is fielding Ramulu’s son Bharat in Nagarkurnool.
The party also rolled out the red carpet for former MLAs S Saidi Reddy (Huzurnagar) and Aroori Ramesh (Wardhannapet), and former Adilabad MP Godam Nagesh. They are now the party’s candidates in Nalgonda, Warangal (SC) and Adilabad (ST) seats respectively.
Banking on Ramulu
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, DK Aruna gave her rival Manne Srinivasa Reddy of the BRS a run for his money. She is now touring every village in her constituency and is using her contacts to drum up support for her candidature in all the Assembly segments that make up the Mahbubnagar seat.
In Nagarkurnool, the sitting MP’s son Bharat hopes to score a victory after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent massive public meeting in the town. Ramulu is a popular leader in the constituency.
In Malkajgiri, former minister Eatala Rajender is campaigning aggressively with an intent to defeat the Congress and BRS nominees. He is making a door-to-door visit to win the hearts of the people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already taken part in a road show in the constituency to a tumultuous response. In 2019, former MLC N Ramchander Rao, who contested from the constituency, got a significant vote share. With the PM’s magic and personal charisma adding to his strength, the former minister may pull off a victory.
In Adilabad, sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao was dropped and former MP Godam Nagesh is being fielded in his place. The party is expecting to win the seat, as in the last Assembly elections, it won four of the seven Assembly segments that constitute the Lok Sabha constituency. Modi addressed his first election rally a month ago in the segment.
Yatras, outreach events
In Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Secunderabad, sitting MPs Dharmapuri Arvind, Bandi Sanjay Kumar and G Kishan Reddy are carrying out an aggressive campaign by undertaking visits to villages and towns in their respective constituencies.
Bandi Sanjay has already taken out a yatra across his Lok Sabha constituency in the last 20 days and is now visiting mandals and addressing meetings every day.
Arvind is also addressing public meetings at villages and towns, targeting the Congress and the BRS for failing to keep the promises they had made to the electorate. The BJP won two Assembly segments in his Nizamabad constituency.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy is also in an overdrive in his Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency and is hoping to retain the seat.
In Zaheerabad, BB Patil is participating in meetings at mandal and village level and is welcoming his old colleagues from the BRS into the BJP. The party is also making all-out efforts in the segment, the reason being that Kamareddy Assembly segment — where the BJP’s KV Ramana Reddy had pulled off a sensational victory in the Assembly elections against the present CM A Revanth Reddy and former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao — is part of the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha constituency
In Medak, former MLA M Raghunandan Rao is targeting the Congress and BRS during his campaigns. The former MLA, who also contested in the last Lok Sabha elections, is expecting to win the seat this time. It will be a very important contest for him as Gajwel, which is part of the constituency, is being represented by KCR in the Assembly.
Intriguing contest
In Chevella, the contest is mainly between former MP Konda Visweshwar Reddy of the BJP and sitting MP G Ranjith Reddy, now with the Congress. In 2019, Konda Viswhewar contested on a Congress ticket and Ranjith Reddy as a BRS nominee.
The saffron party is expecting to win the seat as it believes it has a significant vote share in the GHMC limits.
In the remaining constituencies such as Peddapalli, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Nalgonda, Hyderabad and Bhongir, the BJP is keen on making a difference. Maybe after a fortnight, the party might implement another plan for these segments based on surveys.
According to party sources, the BJP is focused on the nine seats and is deploying all its resources and energies in these constituencies.