State BJP leadership, which resented the “unilateral manner” in which TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced the Telangana bandh call, feels that TRS is trying to indulge in one-upmanship as it was worried over BJP’s growth in the region.
State BJP general secretary, N.V.S.S. Prabhakar said this was not the first time that Mr. Rao had acted in such a fashion. The fact that he was trying to upstage BJP was also reflected when TRS organised a meeting in connection with the joining of Congress leaders at Nizam College grounds, just a day ahead of BJP national president Rajnath Singh’s public rally at the same venue when former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy joined the party.
Although Mr. Singh announced that BJP would not have truck with parties which were not supporting Telangana cause, TRS chief never made a statement welcoming it, he said.
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On Telangana bandh issue too, he made the announcement when BJP and CPI leaders were on the streets, without consulting them. Upset by this, the BJP did not participate in the bandh and confined only to protest rallies.
When ‘Chalo Assembly’ programme was decided and organised collectively under the aegis of T-JAC, any future activity should naturally be decided together by all its constituents.
With the party planning to contest all seats on its own in the next Assembly elections and expand its base in the region, he said it would campaign on the plank of “Mana Vote, Mana Telangana BJP tho saadyam” ( Telangana can be achieved by BJP alone).
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Another BJP leader, N. Ramchander Rao said the by-elections to Parkala and Mahabubnagar Assembly seats had clearly proved that the message that only national parties could deliver Telangana had gone to the people. This was another worrisome factor for the TRS.
He said the quick manner in which Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao took former minister Kadiyam Srihari into the party fold showed that he was worried of BJP.
Not only this, he had tried to woo many second rung leaders, who joined the BJP in Telangana districts.