By: K. Ramachandra Reddy
BJP National President Amit Shah’s visit was supposed to provide much needed boost to the Telangana unit of the party. But, instead of that, his visit only increased the confusion in the party and demonstrated the lack of a clear strategy for the party in India’s newest state.
A clear example of how BJP’s national leadership is being fooled by the state leadership was evident when Amit Shah announced to the media that BJP got 23% vote share in the 2014 General Elections. The fact is BJP managed to get only 7% vote share!
A series of mistakes by the local leadership have frittered away a golden chance for the BJP, which was active in the statehood agitation. Today, the party is reduced to a B team of TDP – which itself is in a pathetic condition in Telangana.
Telangana Elections 2014 – Party-wise Vote share
Here are the top 7 blunders that the party has committed in the past six months, which have ruined the party’s prospects in Telangana:
1) Election Tie-Up with TDP
Perhaps this is the most damaging of all the mistakes that BJP has committed. TDP’s leadership hails from Seemandhra, and the party has always taken anti-Telangana stand. Even though, the party externally states it does not oppose Telangana, it is an open secret that Chandra Babu Naidu has left no stone unturned to stall the formation of Telangana.
Quite naturally, Telangana voters have rejected the BJP’s idea of alliance with anti-Telangana TDP. The alliance resulted in a disaster for BJP and it ended up losing all the seats in 8 districts of Telangana. The party could win just 5 seats in Greater Hyderabad, that too with the help of voters from Andhra region, who have settled here.
2) Narendra Modi’s anti-Telangana statements
Who’ever has coined the phrase used by Narendra Modi that the Congress has killed the mother (Andhra Pradesh) to save the child (Telangana), does not know the ABC of Telangana statehood movement. The people of Telangana were seriously offended by the remarks of PM Narendra Modi. The metaphor was ill conceived and displays complete ignorance about the Telangana issue
3) Campaigning with Pawan Kalyan and Chandra Babu
Jana Sena Party leader Pawan Kalyan’s mindless remarks on KCR costed dearly for the TDP+BJP alliance. Added to this is Chandra Babu’s campaign, which again did not fetch any votes to the BJP in Telangana
4) Opposing Charminar in Telangana Emblem
Even after the Telangana state was formed, the BJP continued its blunders by trying to communalize every step the Telangana government took. While Charminar is considered as the pride of Hyderabad and Telangana, BJP leaders tried to portray it as a symbol of muslims and opposed its inclusion in the Telangana state emblem. This did not go down very well with a majority of Telanganites
5) Opposing Sania Mirza as Brand Ambassador
Again, the BJP did not do its home work well and rushed ahead to question the loyalties of ace Tennis player Sania Mirza. BJP MLA Dr Lakshman uttered some really awful things in a pressmeet, which kicked up a huge controversy and the issue was picked up by national media. The BJP’s central leadership immediately distanced itself from the controversy and supported the appointment of Sania Mirza as brand ambassador for Telangana. The needless controversy actually brought a lot of media attention to the new state of Telangana. Thanks to TBJP’s miscalculation, the decision to appoint Sania Mirza as Telangana’s brand ambassador, paid rich dividends to state government.
6) Supporting Governor Rule over Hyderabad
While the Telangana people and government opposed the handing over of Hyderabad city’s law & order to the Governor, the local BJP leaders committed another self-goal by supporting it. In fact state BJP president G Kishan Reddy even wrote a letter to all the CMs in India supporting this move. Again, a majority of people in Telangana didn’t like this move by the BJP
7) Opposing Independence Day at Golkonda Fort
Local BJP leaders, in their madrush to attack TRS govt, scored a self-goal by criticizing the choice of Golkonda Fort for Independence Day celebrations. They didn’t realize that Golkonda was originally built by Hindu kings only. Within hours of expressing their unhappiness, the BJP leaders had to eat humble pie due to a wave of criticism from common Telanganites.
Even during the visit of Amit Shah, the local BJP leadership did not show any signs of course correction. The kind of people it inducted into the party speaks volumes about the leadership’s lack of commitment.
If the BJP leadership believes it can woo the Telangana Reddy vote by inducting Ex-DGP Dinesh Reddy, who hails from Nellore in Seemandhra, then we can only pity them.
The induction of MLC Kapilavai Dilip Kumar, who contested from Bhongir MP Constituency and managed to get 10th position also exposed the desperation of TBJP.