To prepare for the important Lok Sabha election next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made big changes in four states – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab. There were rumors for a while, especially in Telangana. But, the timing was unexpected, which is usual for how the BJP has been operating since 2014. Surprisingly, two out of the four new BJP state presidents used to be a part of the Congress party. One of them was even a state president for the Congress, while the other was a minister in the United Progressive Alliance government.
Telangana
The main attention has been on Telangana, where Bandi Sanjay has been replaced and Union Minister G Kishen Reddy has been chosen as the new leader of Telangana BJP. Reddys are a powerful group in the society of Andhra and Telangana. Reddy’s name was being mentioned as a potential leader for the Telangana BJP. However, he recently stated in a press conference that he has no knowledge of this. There isn’t a plan yet.
The BJP, which is seen as important by the RSS, couldn’t replace him because the state RSS unit said it would harm the BJP’s interests in the state. Sanjay strongly opposed KCR in Telangana, which made the BJP the main opposition in the state according to people’s views. The BJP was surprised by the online support that came in his favor.
With the upcoming election in Telangana this year and after losing in Karnataka, the BJP couldn’t take any chances in Telangana. But, to make the RSS group feel better, now people think that Sanjay may become a part of Modi’s team in the future when they change things around.
Andhra Pradesh
Daggubati Purandeswari, who was previously a government minister under the UPA regime and then joined the BJP, will now lead the BJP in Andhra Pradesh.
Many people compare her to Sushma Swaraj, a well-spoken politician. She is the daughter of NT Rama Rao, who was a famous actor that later became a politician. By selecting her as the head of BJP in Andhra Pradesh, the party can benefit from NTR’s positive image in the state where he is still greatly admired.
She became a Congressperson and won the election in Vishakhapatnam. She was also selected to be a part of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers twice. She strongly disagreed with the formation of Telangana. In 2014, she joined the BJP to show her disapproval of the Congress.
The Andhra Pradesh election is happening next year. Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP is currently in charge. Purandeswari needs to make sure the BJP becomes the main opposition party.
PUNJAB: The CONG PRESIDENT Joins BJP
Sunil Jakhar, who used to be the leader of the Congress party in Punjab, will now be in charge of the BJP’s operations in the same state. Today means the current day or the time that is happening right now. Nadda chose him instead of Ashwini Sharma for the position.
After a disagreeable period of time with important leaders in the Punjab Congress, he decided to join the BJP last year. During a press conference at the BJP headquarters, he explained that the principles he believed in for Punjab were nationalism, unity, and brotherhood. Jakhar repeatedly expressed his unhappiness with the Congress leaders who didn’t consider him for the position of Chief Minister only because of his religion, before he switched sides. Punjab is a state where most people follow the Sikh religion, and Jakhar is a follower of Hinduism.
Jakhar is a quiet person with a degree in business. He has been elected as a government representative three times and also became a Member of Parliament in 2017 from Gurdaspur.
His biggest task will be to gather and revive the BJP’s group in a state where the party was rejected because of the three controversial Farmers Bills.
JHARKHAND
Raghubar Das was the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand who was not a tribal person. However, even though Jharkhand is mostly populated by tribal people, he was unable to help the BJP party win a second term in office. Before the Assembly election last time, a lot of people in the state BJP recommended that Arjun Munda, who has been involved with the party for a long time and is from a tribal background, should be chosen as the BJP’s candidate for Chief Minister. The BJP usually brings in a new Chief Minister before an election in a state where they already have a Chief Minister. This time, they didn’t pay attention to that custom. The BJP was completely defeated in Jharkhand, with even Das losing the election for his seat.
Next year, there will be elections in Jharkhand again. The BJP has decided to include Babulal Marandi. He is from a tribal community and he was the leader of Jharkhand when it became a separate state from Bihar. Marandi was the right person for Nadda.
