After going all out to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka for the state's Assembly elections, party president Amit Shah will now focus on Telangana. According to the party's Telangana president, K Lakshman, Shah will be touring the state in June.
Lakshman said that they are yet to decide on how many days the national president would be touring.
We are having a meeting today in Delhi. We will discuss all these details in the meeting.K Lakshman, BJP president, Telangana
“On 17 and 18 May, we will discuss the tour routes,” Lakshman said.
He also said that the BJP will be entering the Assembly elections alone and not in an alliance, and hopes to win the elections by defeating the ruling TRS party.
With the national president taking on the task to strengthen the BJP in the state, the state's party leaders are hoping to improve their fortunes in the 2019 general elections.
The BJP’s presence in Telangana is minimal. It has just five MLAs in the state – including the state president.
In the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, it has already dented its chances by denying Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra.
Recently, when Amit Shah visited Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, he faced the wrath of the angry Telugu Desam Party (TDP) activists, who raised slogans against him and even pelted stones at his convoy for going back on their promise of SCS. So, the BJP is now focussing on bettering its chances in Telangana.
The rise of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who now aspires to become a national leader by forming the Federal Front, is another reason for Amit Shah to come in, in order to enhance the prospects of the BJP in 2019, as well as have the BJP’s presence in South India.
Till March, the BJP enjoyed the status of being in power in Andhra Pradesh when they were in an alliance with the TDP.
However, after the finance minister denied SCS to Andhra Pradesh, the TDP pulled out of its alliance and has accused the BJP of ‘cheating’ them.
Shah previously visited Nalgonda district in Telangana last year in the same month. However, it was just a three-day visit.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished here with permission)
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