BackBJP eyes Congress space in Andhra Pradesh
Amit Shah sets target of enrolling 4.5 million members in Andhra by 31 March to capitalize on void left by Congress
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Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is preparing to fill the political vacuum left by the unpopular Congress party in divided Andhra Pradesh, after its success in assembly elections across the country.
The Congress party faced its worst-ever rout in the state in the parliamentary and assembly elections held in April-May following the division of Andhra Pradesh. The decision of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to confer statehood to Telangana, sidelining the concerns of people in the rest of the undivided state triggered a groundswell of discontent, which reflected in the electoral outcome. Congress could not win a single parliamentary or legislative assembly seat in 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP is seeking to cash in on the party’s unpopularity.
“There is a huge vacuum and there is a space for a national party," said Sudhish Rambhotla, the BJP’s chief spokesperson in Andhra Pradesh.
The recent visit of party president Amit Shah, credited with masterminding the BJP’s victories at the national and state levels, has galvanised the cadre, according to leaders. After separate day-long meetings with the BJP leaderships of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on 8-9 January, Shah set a steep target of enrolling 4.5 million members in Andhra Pradesh by 31 March. For Telangana, where the BJP has a comparatively strong base, the target was 3.5 million.
Unlike in Telangana, the BJP has minimal presence in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, the regions that make up the new Andhra Pradesh state. Still, Shah is banking on the strong anti-Congress sentiment to expand the party’s presence in the state.
“The Congress will not exist in Andhra because of (party president) Sonia Gandhi. She committed a murder of the party in Andhra by hurting the sentiments of people," said A. Prasanna Kumar, director of Visakhapatnam-based Centre for Policy Studies. “I don’t think Telugu-speaking people will forgive her," he added.
“In Andhra, (because of) the vacuum created by the Congress, and because of YSR Congress’s set of problems, the BJP has the potential to become a significant player," said Rambhota.
YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy is battling a string of corruption-related cases, and the party’s defeat in recent elections has demoralized its cadre. Cadres of the Congress and the YSR Congress are gravitating towards the BJP because they are not confident about their future in the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), said P. Madhu, a Vizianagaram-based YSR Congress supporter said on the phone. “They are worried they will be treated like second-rung cadre in the TDP," he said.
BJP is also poaching senior Congress leaders. Former union ministers D. Purandeswari and Kavuri Sambasiva Rao have already embraced the party, while former state cabinet minister Kanna Laxminarayana, who at one time was tipped to replace rebel chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, also joined the saffron party. The names of Kiran Reddy and former Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Botsa Satyanarayana are also doing the rounds.
Mint could not reach Kiran Reddy and Satyanarayana for comments.
The BJP’s Andhra Pradesh unit president K. Hari Babu said although his party is open to leaders joining from other parties, it is not actively wooing anybody. “We are not approaching anybody to join. Those people who are willing to join to work for the party, and not for any posts, I am welcoming them," he said. Babu said his party is trying to build its organization structure in Andhra by focusing on local leaders in rural areas. This approach is similar to what Shah did in the run up to Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, to beef up the party’s strategy in the state, Shah has deployed BJP joint general secretary V. Satish, who was part of the core team that led the party to victory in Maharashtra assembly elections last year.
Shah asked his leaders to recruit 100 members in each of the 42,000-odd polling booths in Andhra Pradesh to reach the target of 4.5 million members.
TDP leaders don’t yet see a threat from the BJP. “They may grow but it will not be sufficient for them to come to power. Ultimately, they will have to join hands with the TDP," the party’s politburo member Gali Muddu Krishnama Naidu said. “Because theirs is a national party, it is natural that they want to have their own strength and gain better bargaining power (for seats) with Telugu Desam," he said.
“We are weak so far," said BJP’s Babu. “We are trying to build the party structure."
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