HYDERABAD: BJP leaders and cadre are becoming increasingly restless as they wait for the high command to announce a new president for the party’s Telangana unit. Their restlessness has peaked in the last week after the party’s main rival, the Congress, announced its own pick to head the TPCC.
However, there does not appear to be an end in sight to their restlessness as the BJP high command appears to be prioritising election-bound states like Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir.
This has left the BJP cadre listless, in stark contrast to their Congress counterparts who have been energised by the appointment of a BC leader as TPCC president. This has given the grand old party crowing rights as evident by its cadres who are going to town and highlighting the fact that their party high command has accorded priority to BC leaders while maintaining social balance in all appointments.
A byproduct of the BJP leadership’s reluctance to make a decision on a new state unit president is the widening of the gap between the new entrants and veterans by the day. While it’s an open secret that four of the party’s eight Lok Sabha members are serious aspirants for the post, the old guard, including three MPs, have closed flanks and are reportedly making efforts to get the party to appoint a veteran to the post.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that a majority of the MLAs are unhappy with the state leadership or senior leaders of the party. These MLAs are claiming that the party general secretaries are controlling them. They grumble that they are feeling insulted. Some of the MLAs are not even visiting the party office and have not been visible during the launch of the membership drive recently.
This has left the party cadre worried that these issues might affect the BJP’s chances in the upcoming local body and GHMC elections.
The aspirants meanwhile wait patiently for the high command to make its decision. Among them is a BC leader who is expecting the BJP to come to power in the state in the next Assembly elections. However, the machinations within the party may just derail his plans.