In a shocking move, former MLC Ramachandra Rao has been named as the BJP’s Telangana state president. The high command has directed him to file his nomination. He will file his nomination at 2 pm on Monday. While three prominent leaders who won as MPs in the last elections were in the fray for this post, the appointment of Ramachandra Rao, who refused to even give a party seat to contest in the elections, is a bit surprising.
The BJP leadership, which claims to come to power in Telangana in the next elections, has finally selected Ramachandra Rao, who could not even retain his MLC seat from his graduates constituency, which makes it clear that the party leadership has no intention of coming to power here. They seem to be more comfortable in playing `blackmail’ games with both BRS and Congress.
Just before the 2023 assembly elections, the BJP high command removed the then state president Bandi Sanjay, which shocked many at the time. Many believe that if Bandi Sanjay had continued like that, there would have been a hung assembly even if the BJP had not come to power. It is known that removing Bandi Sanjay as the opposition to BRS had already reached a critical level, went well with the Congress party.
Although Etala Rajender’s name came to the fore when Sanjay was removed, some people objected that if the leadership was handed over to a mass leader, the party would not be under their control, and Kishan Reddy, who was a Union Minister, has continued in that position since then.
For some time now, there has been a big campaign that the post of Telangana BJP president will be given to Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajender. Many people also thought that this would bring new vigor to the party. This campaign was carried out with the idea that announcing Etala’s name was the next step.
But the BJP high command has finalized the name of former MLC Ramchandra Rao. Though he is a senior BJP leader and without controversy, there are doubts about his mass appeal. In a state like Telangana, the question before the party leaders is how much influence Ramchandra Rao can have in instilling passion in the cadre and bringing it to power in the next elections?
It is known that leaders like Kishan Reddy, Dr. Laxman, and Bandi Sanjay, who are afraid that they will become a zero if a leader who can take the party to the people is made the president, have also extended their support for Ramchandra Rao. It is believed that they have made this choice so that they can use him as a dummy and maintain their influence.
