The BJP faces a tough fight in Telangana not only from the Congress that stormed to power last year but also the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) that is trying to reclaim some of its lost ground. Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, one of the BJP’s prominent faces in the state and a former state president of the party who has been renominated, talks to The Indian Express about the party’s prospects. Telangana votes in the fourth phase on May 13.
Excerpts:
Has the BJP recovered from the Assembly poll loss a few months ago?
State elections are different and are fought on local issues. The BRS candidate won the Karimnagar Assembly seat because all the Muslim voters, who are a fourth of the total, voted for him. And yet, I lost only by 3,000 votes.
The BRS lost the Assembly polls despite offering a series of welfare schemes. Now the BJP is talking about welfare schemes…
The BRS government of KCR (ex-CM K Chandrasekhar Rao) was using money sent by the Modi government at the Centre to implement schemes in his (KCR’s) name. When Nirmala Sitharaman visited Telangana and saw that PM Modi’s photo was missing from the publicity material, she was furious.
The Congress is also promising several welfare schemes.
When it comes to this election, it is (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi who matters, no one else. This election is all about Modi.
The BJP cadre seems upset that you have fielded a lot of outsiders.
The BJP is a political party … We have to bring in people to make it strong. The cadre is with Modi. This election is like IPL — Indian Political League — and the Congress has no captain, neither does the INDIA bloc. The BJP’s captain is PM Modi. Who is their captain? People here know Modi has initiated programmes like free ration and the PM Awas Yojana. They know who is funding all these programmes.
What are the challenges you face?
The BJP wants to focus on the work it has done. We are talking about all the schemes Modi has initiated. For instance, in my Karimnagar constituency alone, the National Highway development work worth Rs 5,700 crore has been sanctioned. KCR did not give a rupee to panchayats. He promised Rs 5 lakh to their elected sarpanchs but did not give anything. That is why so many have turned against him. The Congress is also not in a position to implement schemes or give money for village development. People know they will have to depend on Modi for funds.
The BRS failed in its promise of fee reimbursement for students. As a result, many students were denied hall tickets for writing exams. They were allowed only after the BJP put a lot of pressure.
Does being in power give the Congress an advantage?
Too many power centres in the Congress, so too many power cuts.
Has the Ram Mandir consecration changed anything?
There was a groundswell of support for Modi around the Ram Temple event. In fact, we are distributing framed photos of the temple to all six-lakh households in my constituency and they are very enthusiastic about it.
