The BJP is all set to initiate the process of finalising its candidates for the 119 Assembly seats in Telangana.Although late to the party when compared to the BRS and the Congress, the BJP has set a timeline for itself to complete the process of accepting applications from ticket aspirants.
The BRS was the first to announce its candidates in 115 out of the 119 seats, which gave it the first-mover advantage over its rivals.
The saffron party — which does not have too many strong leaders to contest from the majority of the seats — has decided to accept applications for allotment of tickets from 4 to 10 September.
Despite the delay in beginning the process when compared to rivals like the BRS and Congress, the BJP claims it isn’t too worried.
Even as the two parties are forging ahead, the BJP leaders said there was no need to hurry since there was still a lot of time.
“The BRS may have announced its list but it does not mean we, too, should follow suit.Ours is a national party and we have certain procedures, methods, and time schedules,” BJP’s state spokesperson NV Subhash told media, underscoring the point that the party would take its own time in finalising the candidates.
According to BJP state general secretary Gujjula Premender Reddy, BJP has decided to accept applications for allotment of tickets from 4 to 10 September.The applications would be accepted from 10 am to 4 pm on all days at the party’s central office in Hyderabad.
Before initiating the process, the members of the State Election Committee should have been finalised, but given that the BRS and Congress leaped ahead, the BJP too is playing catch up.The committee has Huzurabad MLA Eatala Rajedner as its chairman, but the members have not been nominated.
“Once the committee is in place, the process of finalisation of tickets will begin,” Subhash said while admitting that there has been slackness in preparing for the elections.
“But from now on, the campaign will pick up.We are ready to get cracking.Till now, we were preoccupied with organisational work,” he said.
By announcing the candidates early, the party gained ample time to douse the flames of dissidence, which are not alarming, except in a few constituencies like Palair.
Former minister Thummala Nageswara Rao is angry over Chief Minister and BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao not fielding him from Palair in the erstwhile Khammam district.
Another advantage the BRS has is that the party will have enough time on the campaign trail since the most vexatious and painful process of finalisation of tickets has been completed.
The Congress, too, has begun choosing the candidates.
The Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) went through more than 1,000 applications from ticket aspirants.
