Troubleshooter Amit Shah Hyderabad visit to give BJP a boost
To address public meeting in Chevella LS constituency
The visit by Shah is expected to be a no-nonsense trip focused on seeing how the BJP is shaping up in Telangana.
HYDERABAD: In yet another clear signal that the BJP means business in Telangana, and is serious about coming to power in the state, Union home minister Amit Shah is expected to visit Hyderabad on April 23.
If everything goes as planned, Shah, who has a reputation for his organisational abilities and has often served as the BJP’s main election strategist, will meet with state party leaders and representatives from the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency, where he is scheduled to address a public gathering.
Shah’s visit, party leaders hope, will be one among a series of regular visits by him to the state as the BJP in Telangana attempts to get its act together to take on Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The visit by Shah is expected to be a no-nonsense trip focused on seeing how the BJP is shaping up in Telangana.
The visit comes at a time when the BJP and the BRS are at odds over a host of issues, with the TSPSC question paper leak case currently topping the list. The BJP has pressed the BRS and the state government for a judicial investigation into the leaks, as well as the resignation of IT minister K.T. Rama Rao.
While there was some speculation in the party during the day that at least one senior leader, possibly a former minister from the Congress or the BRS, might join the BJP in Shah’s presence at the Chevella public meeting, party leaders did not confirm or deny this possibility.
Though the BJP had deployed two troubleshooters drawn from the Sangh Parivar into the party, the BJP’s national general secretary Sunil Bansal and national joint secretary Shiv Prakash, to Telangana for troubleshooting and guidance, it is Shah’s impending visit that has some party leaders worried about what Shah will say about their efforts thus far.
“There may be some awkward moments for us as Shah is very focused on Telangana and will come armed with his own inputs on what is happening here,” a party leader said.
Following a meeting with state party leaders in New Delhi earlier in March, Shah reportedly assured them that he will now take a direct interest in how the party and its leaders are doing in Telangana. Shah is expected to visit several parliamentary constituencies, with the visit to Chevella constituency being the first in this series.
Preceding Shah’s visit will be a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday of BJP’s state leaders with Bansal, and Prakash In the run-up to Shah’s visit, the two leaders are slated to take stock of the party’s programmes thus far, future action plans, and progress on attempts to build the party at the polling booth level on Wednesday. Also on the cards, according to party leaders, is a review of the party’s current agitation on the issue of TSPSC question paper leaks.
