Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the Lok Sabha member representing Karimnagar, played a pivotal role in revitalizing the BJP in Telangana during his three-year tenure as the BJP Telangana president from 2020 to 2023. He posed a significant challenge to the ruling BRS party and the opposition Congress in Telangana.
Under Sanjay's leadership, the BJP emerged as a formidable political force in Telangana and even supplanted Congress as the primary opposition to the BRS.
The BJP secured victories in the Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly polls, defeating the BRS. It created a sensation in the GHMC elections in December 2020 by becoming the second-largest party in the GHMC after the BRS. Additionally, it gave a tough fight to the BRS in the Munugode by-election in 2022.
Despite these achievements, the BJP high command abruptly removed Sanjay from the post of BJP Telangana president last month, succumbing to pressure from an anti-Sanjay faction led by Etala Rajender and Dharmapuri Aravind.
Subsequently, the BJP high command appointed Bandi Sanjay as the national general secretary. Reportedly, the party high command has decided to utilize Bandi Sanjay's services in Andhra Pradesh, along with Telangana and a few other states.
For the first time, it is reported that Bandi Sanjay will tour Andhra Pradesh on August 21 to hold meetings with party leaders to discuss strengthening the BJP in AP.
In Andhra Pradesh, the BJP does not have a significant presence and holds no representation in either the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly.
The question looming large is whether Bandi Sanjay can replicate his success in Andhra Pradesh as he did in Telangana. The political and social dynamics in Telangana differ significantly. Telangana has a history of Nizam rule and a considerable Muslim population. Bandi Sanjay was able to polarize Hindu voters in Telangana with his fiery speeches on Muslims and Muslim leaders. The Muslim population in Telangana is over 13 percent, while in AP, it is around 7 percent.
Bandi Sanjay's visit to Vijayawada on August 21 is being closely observed in AP political circles.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, like many other leaders, has his own inner circle, which serves as his trusted advisors and confidants.
As YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila is getting ready to merge her party with the Congress sooner or later, she has not given up her efforts to be in the media limelight and prove that she is still strongly fighting against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Twenty one Indian students were deported to the country from the United States of America in a single day.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is gearing up for the upcoming electoral battle in the state much ahead of his rival political parties – the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Times Now ETG opinion poll suggests that Narendra Modi is on track for a third term as Prime Minister if elections were held today.
It is more or less confirmed that YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila is all set to merge her party with the Congress. In all probability, it might happen this month end.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy, who is dreaming of coming to power in Telangana in the coming assembly elections, seems to have taken a cue from his former boss N Chandrababu Naidu’s son and Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh, who is also nurturing the ambition of coming to power in Andhra Pradesh.
There have been reports in a section of social media in Hyderabad that All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi would be meeting YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday.
Chief Minister YS Jagan is currently engaged in extensive surveys to determine candidate selections for upcoming elections.
Even as the opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are still struggling to establish themselves and kick up the anti-establishment sentiment among the people in Telangnana, Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is getting ready to enter the battle field.
There are certain assembly constituencies in Telangana, where the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi is really invincible – like Gajwel represented by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Siricilla by his son K T Rama Rao and Siddipet, represented by his nephew T Harish Rao.
Former MLA from Vijayawada (north) and prominent Kapu leader Vangaveeti Radha Krishna has called for a meeting of his followers and well-wishers on Friday to discuss his future plans, as Andhra Pradesh is heading for assembly elections in another eight months.
As the elections to the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state assemblies are just a few months away, political parties in both the states have begun the exercise in selecting candidates for contest.
YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to be under tremendous pressure from his own party MLAs to revert to the old system of liquor policy in the state, ahead of the assembly elections.
