Keeping the 2019 assembly elections in mind, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah will visit Telangana from May 22 to May 24 and then tour Andhra Pradesh on May 25. Shah's visit is also aimed at giving a boost to the saffron party's attempts to spread its wings in the south part of the country.
While the BJP is in alliance with the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, in Telangana, the party looks for a political revival to make it an alternative to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. BJP has five MLAs and one MP in Telangana.
Though 2019 is still far away, with talks that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao might announce early elections, the BJP is preparing to face such scenario and Shah will do what he is best at by interacting with booth-level workers in Nalgonda district. He will kick-off the 15-day 'Vistarak Yojana' programme scheduled from May 29, where BJP workers will reach out to 35,000 booth committees.
Shah will also meet voters and take part in a door-to-door campaign and have lunch with a few people. He will also hold a brainstorming session with party leaders to prepare a road map for the upcoming elections, as part of the 'Mission South' programme.
If KCR believes in vaastu and pujas, the BJP is not far behind. Hundreds of bikes with UP registration, which were used during the UP election campaign and are considered 'lucky' have already arrived for campaigning during Shah's visit. Several heavyweights are expected to reach Hyderabad in the coming days, and the BJP believes the state is the stepping stone for their entry into the south. The party also has coined new lines, 'The BJP is the only alternative. We want to win Telangana.'
The state unit of BJP is also looking at winning the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat which has gone to the AIMIM since 1984. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who is the current Member of Parliament from Hyderabad, considers this as his fiefdom and has not allowed anyone to enter this stronghold.
State BJP president K. Laxman said, "Amit Shah is a master strategist. He likes to challenge the unchallenged. Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat has not been within reach of any party for 40 years. We want to break the pattern. MP Asaduddin Owaisi has failed in delivering good governance in his constituency. It has become more backward.”
While the BJP is leaving no stone unturned in making Amit Shah's visit a grand success, the state Congress is also in its own efforts to make party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's scheduled visit on June 1 a big hit. Rahul's visit comes a day ahead of the TRS celebrating its third formation day on June 3.
The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee has also planned a massive public meeting, calling it 'Telangana Praja Garjana' at Sangareddy district where Rahul will release a 'chargesheet' over the 'failures' of TRS government in the last three years. The Congress will highlight issues of farmer suicides, unemployment among other issues.
While Telangana will be the focal point with Shah spending three days here, his visit to Andhra Pradesh has also got tongues wagging. Rumours have it that the BJP might not continue with its alliance with the TDP in the 2019 elections. However, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, while reacting to the rumours, said “The BJP and TDP are working together well. Our expansion in Andhra Pradesh should not be an objectionable thing as it is natural for political parties to grow on their own. It’s very premature to draw conclusions at this stage on an alliance with TDP in the next polls.”
