Pincer movement

The BJP is banking on two new aggressive leaders to turn the tide in Telangana

- RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said, “Pakistan or India. Who will you support in this match?” The venue was a locality of middle-class residents in Hyderabad. “Pakistan”, most likely, was a reference to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and its bastions, but “India” definitely meant the BJP. The “match” was the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.

It is understandable why Kumar chose this metaphor. An India-Pakistan cricket match led to events that increased his political profile. In the 2011 cricket World Cup, India beat Pakistan in the semi-finals. During the victory celebrations in Karimnagar, in northern Telangana, locals spilled out onto the streets. They spotted a group of men with green flags. It was assumed that they were flying Pakistani flags; tempers ran high, leading to a scuffle. The police registered a case. Kumar, who had just finished his first term as a corporation, was one of the accused. The case is now a footnote in the story of the rise of Karimnagar’s “Hindu tiger”.