He is on cloud nine despite losing the electoral battle himself in the Assembly elections. City BJP president B. Venkata Reddy has all reasons to smile as the party has put up its best performance ever in the Assembly, from the city, under his leadership.
The BJP bagged Musheerabad, Amberpet, Uppal, Khairatabad and Goshamahal constituencies and that too defeating some stalwarts including two sitting Ministers Mukesh Goud and Danam Nagender. The earlier best performance of the party was in 1999 when it secured three Assembly seats – Malakpet, Musheerabad and Maharajgunj (now renamed as Goshamahal). Interestingly, BJP had an electoral alliance with the Telugu Desham Party (TDP) then too.
“We would have easily won two or three more seats had we announced the names earlier,” Mr. Reddy, who is serving his second term as the president, says. “The success is the result of the hard work done by the party activists and how it is seen as an alternative to the corrupt Congress by the middle-class as well as those living below poverty line.”
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Winning is not enough, he feels, adding that the party now has a great chance to make inroads into new territories as Mr. Narendra Modi takes over as Prime Minister of India. “Mr. Modi’s image has certainly helped the party in the city and we should take off from here to strengthen the party further.”
Mr. Reddy plans to target new sections in his endeavour to attract them. The youth wing will be strengthened to reach out to the youngsters and also people of different sections, including the minorities. “Our next goal is the GHMC elections. The positive atmosphere in the country and city will definitely help us in our goal of capturing the GHMC. We will make a difference to the city and its landscape,” says the former Amberpet Corporator.
Though seen as the only rival to the MIM in the old city, Mr. Reddy says the party has spread its wings to newer areas like Uppal, LB Nagar and Malkajgiri. “We lost some seats with narrow margins and those areas will be under our radar for strengthening,” Mr. Reddy says.
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