Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karimnagar MP and Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar is once again back in the race for the state unit’s president post. Sanjay along with the ex-MLC Ram Chander Rao are the two names that are doing rounds as final choices for the post, which is currently held by Secunderabad MP G Kishan Reddy.
Bandi Sanjay was in fact the BJP’s Telangana president earlier as well, and was replaced by Kishan Reddy in the run up to the 2023 state Assembly elections. According to a senior BJP leader from Telangana who did not want to be quoted, the party high command is contemplating re-appointing Sanjay as he is also a Backward Class (BC) leader. Moreover, his aggressive push for Hindutva in Telangana also had given the party a few successes electorally in the past.
The development is important as it will set the tone for the party’s way forward in Telangana, especially after its impressive win in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections this year. The BJP here managed to win 8 out of the 17 Parliamentary seats in Telangana, giving the ruling Congress and the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) a rude shock, as the incumbent government expected to win more seats.
Earlier, word in the BJP’s circles was that Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender, also a BC leader (Mudiraj), was being considered for the top post. However, the fact that he was a long-time Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) member or an ‘outsider’, may have been a deterrent for him to get the BJP state president post. The final decision, which has been delayed by months, is likely to be out in a week, said the party leader.
Bandi Sanjay’s reappointment may also have something to do with the fact that BC groups in Telangana are now demanding a higher share in terms of political representation after the ruling Congress recently released details of the Caste Survey which showed that BCs (excluding Muslims) total to about 46% of the population. Including Muslims who also fall under the BC category, the percentage goes up to 56%.
It may also be recalled that under Bandi Sanjay the BJP managed to win about 46 seats out of 150 in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in 2020. The BRS, which was then in power, saw its numbers reducing to 56 (from 99 in the 2015 polls). In the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, the BJP also managed to secure 20% of the vote share and eight seats, a big jump from the 7% vote share and one seat it got in 2018.
It is to be seen how the ruling Congress responds to the Hindutva aggression if Bandi Sanjay is reappointed as the Telangana BJP president. The Karimnagar MP in the past has stirred controversy with his incendiary statements, once calling for a ‘surgical strike’ in the Old City of Hyderabad.
