BackBJP’s Andhra battle plays out in Karnataka
If the BJP plans to grow further in the south, Andhra Pradesh is likely be its next target
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Bengaluru: In the Karnataka elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was fighting not only the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), but also one party that wasn’t even contesting —the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Andhra Pradesh (AP).
The TDP campaigned in an attempt to influence Telugu-speaking voters in Karnataka to vote against the saffron outfit. Though the BJP did not get a clear mandate, the result may have a positive impact for the party in neighbouring AP, where currently it is being blamed by other political parties, especially the ruling TDP, for the state not being given special category status (SCS).
In fact, if the BJP plans to grow further in the south, AP is likely be its next target.
“(TDP supremo and AP chief minister) Chandrababu Naidu said that Telugu people will not vote for us in Karnataka, but that did not happen. Our next step is to carry out a major campaign in AP where we will talk about the TDP’s failures," said Sudheesh Rambhotla, BJP’s chief spokesperson for AP.
Another BJP leader from AP, who did not want to be named, also said the party is looking for leaders from outside to fill its ranks. With the TDP breaking its alliance with the BJP over budgetary allotment and SCS in March, the latter is also hoping to expand on its own now, he added.
Kanna Laxminarayana, a former minister and five-time MLA, who shifted to the BJP after the 2014 general and state assembly elections in AP, was appointed BJP president earlier this month.
TDP leaders, however, downplayed the Karnataka poll results, and said a huge anti-incumbency wave had helped the BJP gain from 40 seats in 2013 to over a 100 now. “On its own the BJP will not grow in AP, it does not even have strong cadres to campaign," said a TDP functionary who did not want to be quoted.
Political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy said the Karnataka election verdict will have no impact on AP.
“Had it been a Siddaramaiah versus Yeddyurappa contest, the former and the Congress would have won easily. But Narendra Modi entered the campaign and made it a Modi versus Rahul game. The stakes are different in both states," he added.
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