T’gana BJP faces internal rift ahead of local polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana facing internal wrangling ahead of the elections to the local bodies in the state in September and to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) scheduled in December, party functionaries familiar with the development said.

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

Ata time when 42% reservations for the other backward classes (OBCs) has become a big political issue in the local body elections, the appointment of an upper caste leader N Ramachander Rao as the Telangana state BJP president on July | has triggered discontent within the party.

‘At least three prominent OBC leaders ~ Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender, Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind and Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh — were in the race for becoming the state BJP president, but the party high command chose Ramachander Rao, a relatively soft-spoken leader, for the post.

Raja Singh, who alleged that he was denied the opportunity to file his nomination on June 30, resigned from the party and the high command accepted his resignation within no time.

“Raja Singh is the lone BJP MLA from Hyderabad and his leadership is crucial for the party to win the GHMC elections. So, the way the BJP leadership treated him was humiliating and it has terribly upset the BJP cadre in Hyderabad. It will definitely have an impact on the party prospects in the GHMC polls,” a senior BJP leader, who refused to be quoted, said.