There seems to be a silent realisation in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it would have performed much better in Telangana if it had persisted with Bandi Sanjay Kumar as its state president and the face during the polls.
Bandi had stepped down as the state BJP chief in July, just before the election campaign began in the state, and was replaced by Union Minister G Kishan Reddy. Bandi, the MP from Karimnagar, was still put up as a candidate in the assembly elections, but he lost from the Karimnagar assembly seat that falls in his parliamentary constituency.
“Bandi would have surely lost while fighting for an MLA seat as people knew he won’t become the Chief Minister since he had been removed as the state president of the party. People in the constituency, during the campaign, assured him that they will vote for him in the MP elections come 2024,” a senior BJP leader told News18.
Bandi was the most sought-after campaigner amongst the state leaders and did close to 70 rallies – he was hence also given a chopper to campaign by the BJP. “The mood in the state was of anti-incumbency and people wanted to teach KCR a lesson by sending his government out of power. It was a fight for who will grab that anti-incumbency vote. Till a few months ago, it was the BJP which was the lead player in the opposition camp in the state and the Congress campaign was nowhere and down in the dumps,” the BJP leader quoted above said.
However, for reasons not known till date, Bandi was replaced by Reddy in July, just when the BJP was preparing to escalate its campaign in the state.
There is a clamour among a few in the BJP to now bring back Bandi and give him the reins of the party in the state to take on the Congress ahead of 2024, after his successful ‘Praja Sangrama Yatra’ in the state last year brought momentum for the BJP.
Heartfelt thanks to Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji for coming to Karimnagar, blessing us and campaigning for us.Your speech has filled us with Josh and with the blessings of people and commitment of BJP Telangana karyakartas, Lotus will bloom in Karimnagar constituencies. pic.twitter.com/Mj1GGo1ivY
— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (@bandisanjay_bjp) November 27, 2023
PM Narendra Modi had then praised Bandi’s effort. The BJP has doubled its vote share from 6.9 per cent to 14 per cent in these elections.
One of its candidates, Venkata Ramana Reddy, defeated both KCR and Congress CM face Revanth Reddy in a seat. But the BJP knows where it slipped. “We may have been celebrating a four out of four states win today, but for that one decision,” a leader said.
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