HYDERABAD: With municipal elections on the horizon and the contest for Telangana Assembly already in view, the message from the BJP’s central leadership that met leaders from the state was that organisation would precede ambition. After all, in politics, a house is built from the foundation, not the roof.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin met the party’s state president N Ramchander Rao, MPs, MLAs and state in-charges Abhay Patil and Chandrashekhar Tiwari in New Delhi. While the formal meeting reviewed the party’s position in the state, a subsequent discussion with Ramchander Rao and the in-charges turned to organisational strategy and the political roadmap ahead.
According to sources, the leadership left little doubt about its objective of bringing the BJP to power in the next Telangana Assembly elections. But before looking that far ahead, leaders were asked to keep their eyes on the nearer milestones. The upcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad, Malkajgiri, Cyberabad, Khammam and Warangal municipal corporations, along with the two Graduate MLC constituencies represented by BJP MPs, were identified as the next political tests. The target, sources said, is to secure a majority of municipal divisions and retain both MLC seats to keep the party’s momentum intact.
The discussions also touched upon the prospect of legislators from other parties joining the BJP. Sources said Nabin made it clear that while the party remained open to political expansion, any sitting MLA seeking to join would first have to resign from the Assembly and seek a fresh mandate through a byelection. The message, insiders said, was that political growth should not come at the cost of electoral legitimacy.
Equally, the leadership sought to keep internal equations in check. MPs and MLAs were instructed to work in coordination and resolve differences through the party leadership rather than allowing them to spill into the public domain. As the saying goes, loose threads can unravel an entire fabric.
Addressing the media later, Ramchander Rao said the meeting had underlined the need for collective leadership and organisational discipline.
State BJP to intensify its campaign against Congress govt’s ‘failures’
Ramchander Rao said Nabin had directed the Telangana unit to prepare a sustained campaign while strengthening the party structure up to the mandal level, with special attention to all 937 mandals across the state. Telangana, he said, continues to be a priority for the BJP, with Nabin expected to visit regularly to review organisational progress.
He also said the state unit would intensify its campaign against what it described as the failures of the Congress government. He alleged that the government had underperformed in sectors including education, claiming fee reimbursement dues for students remained unpaid and that corruption had increased under the present administration.
Alongside its campaign against the state government, the BJP has been asked to step up publicity for the Centre’s development initiatives and welfare schemes, while simultaneously preparing a long-term political strategy for Telangana. On the party’s electoral prospects, Ramchander Rao said the BJP had no shortage of potential candidates and claimed leaders from other parties were keen to join, though he declined to identify them.
He also expressed confidence that the BJP would be well placed after the proposed delimitation exercise and maintained that the party’s organisational network remained strong across Telangana.
