An unexpected meeting between former minister and BJP MLA Eatala Rajender with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has created a flutter in Telangana state unit of the saffron party.
Rajender was supposed to be headed for Delhi at a time all kinds of speculations were rife in the Telangana BJP about a change in leadership — or at least key duties being assigned to the dissidents, comprising leaders who made a lateral entry into the party and were at odds with the old-timers who are of RSS stock like state unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
Before going to New Delhi, however, Rajender headed for Assam and met Sarma — also a lateral entrant who has emerged as a key leader in the BJP — for a discussion, party sources told reporters, on how to take on the to the BRS government in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
After holding consultations with Sarma, Rajender left for New Delhi to meet the BJP top brass to explain to them the strategy to be adopted for the elections, the sources said.Leaders close to Rajender, however, would not come on record on what transpired between Rajender and the Assam chief minister during Friday’s meeting.
Summoned to Delhi
Rajender was summoned to Delhi following reports of differences between groups headed by two senior leaders in the state, with the BJP high apparently deciding to put an end to the strife and bring all the leaders onto a single platform to fight the Assembly elections in a united manner and defeat the BRS.
Rajender, who is also the party’s Joinings Committee convenor, has been openly saying that two senior leaders, who were suspended by the BRS, were urging him to join the Congress when he requested them to join the BJP and fight against the state government.
The remarks created confusion among the cadre, and Rajender, who was himself ousted from the BRS, was expected to stay in New Delhi to seek a change in leadership in the state.
Change of state leadership unlikely
While a few BJP leaders were clear that there would not be any changes in the party in Telangana, some said that additional responsibilities could be entrusted to important leaders like Rajender — like making him election campaign in-charge.
According to sources South First spoke to, Eatala Rajender’s strategy of taking the enemy, the BRS, head-on is at variance with the BJP’s established course — using Hindutva as its main plank.This has become a cause of dissonance.
Though Rajender’s supporters want him to lead the party in Telangana, it is unlikely that the BJP would accede to their request since he is of non-RSS stock
The central leadership is, however, apparently firm on putting an end to differences between the two groups in the party before the actual exercise for the Assembly election campaign begins.
It wants to send a strong message to the cadre that all the leaders in the party are united to defeat the BRS in the Assembly elections.
