BJP needs to shed junior player tag in A.P., says Ram Madhav

‘Party leaders told to stop firing off the shoulders of Narendra Modi’

August 12, 2020 12:55 am | Updated 12:55 am IST - VIJAYAWADA

Neither the YSRCP nor the TDP is rival to us, says BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav.

Neither the YSRCP nor the TDP is rival to us, says BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav.

Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav has exhorted the State unit to help the party shed the ‘junior player’ tag in the political landscape of Andhra Pradesh to emerge as a dominant force.

In the same breath, he said that coming to power in A.P. would not be a cakewalk unless the State leadership stopped solely banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alliance with other political parties.

Mr. Madhav was addressing the party cadres after Somu Veerraju, who took charge as the BJP State president here on Tuesday, asserted that the BJP-Jana Sena Party combine would romp home in the 2024 elections.

Mr. Madhav, however, did not elaborate whether the BJP would form a pre-poll alliance with the JSP as stated by Mr. Veerraju. “Neither the YSRCP nor the TDP is rival to us,” he said. The BJP national general secretary said that strengthening the party to help it grow as a dominant political force in the State was the immediate task at hand.

“Stop firing off the shoulders of Mr. Narendra Modi. Of course, we can reap the benefits of the development brought in under his leadership. But, it will help to some extent,” said Mr. Madhav.

‘A friendly critic’

The BJP State leadership needs to focus on the issues concerning the people and the State. “Fight against the misgovernance in a democratic way,” he asked the party cadres.

Mr. Madhav said, “We have to play the role of a constructive opposition and a friendly critic. Otherwise, victory in 2024 will turn out to be a mere slogan.”

Capital issue

Referring to the shifting of capital, he said the Centre had filed an affidavit in the court, explaining about its ‘limited role’ in deciding the State capital. “However, it doesn’t mean that none can question the rationale behind the three-capital decision. No State in this country has three capitals. Uttar Pradesh which has a population four times of Andhra Pradesh has only one capital,” he pointed out.

The Centre did not interfere when the then government decided to set up the capital at Amaravati. Neither did it intervene when the Secretariat operated out of a bus and rented buildings.

In the aftermath of bifurcation, the Centre had suggested that the government could function from from Hyderabad for 5 or 10 years till the new capital was built. “I am not going into the details why he rushed to Vijayawada from Hyderabad,” said Mr. Madhav, in an oblique reference to TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu and the cash-for-vote case.

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