HYDERABAD: BJP national general secretary and Telangana unit in-charge Sunil Bansal reviewed the ongoing membership drive with party MPs, MLAs and MLCs at its state head office at Nampally here on Friday.
The meeting was attended by state president G Kishan Reddy, BJLP leader A Maheswar Reddy, MPs Eatala Rajender, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and M Raghunandan Rao, and MLC AVN Reddy, as well as seven of its MLAs, except T Raja Singh.
Interestingly, four of the BJP MPs from Telangana — Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay, DK Aruna, Dharmapuri Arvind and Godam Nagesh were conspicuous by their absence. Party sources cited scheduling conflicts for three of the MPs, while one reportedly indicated disinterest. This set off the rumour mills churning.
During the meeting, Bansal expressed concern over the party’s failure to reach even half of the targeted 50 lakh new members. With only six days remaining, Bansal urged party leaders to intensify efforts to meet at least 50% of the goal, warning that failure to do so could result in angering the party’s central leadership.
Bansal also took note of internal issues within the party, particularly the comments made by Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind who had questioned why the party struggled in the Assembly in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) where it had won 46 divisions on its own. Bansal directed party members to bring any concerns to the leadership directly rather than speaking in public.
Bansal told the party to maintain unity and focus on voter enrolment, particularly among graduates as the party prepares for elections to the Council for Karimnagar-Adilabad-Nizamabad-Medak and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda seats.