TS, AP beware! BJP has something sly up its sleeve

Finally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have turned its 'attention' towards the Telugu States. It is evident that the ruling party at the Centre is itching to take on the two regional party governments as per its long-pending game plan.

If readers are to recall, it is here in these paper's columns that in the past it had been elaborated how the BJP planned to take on the Telugu States after Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It broke the back of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and made them surrender to its whims and fancies while pushing Sasikala, a close associate of the late Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, into jail.

The BJP never dared to touch either Jayalalithaa or Sasikala as long as 'Amma' was in power and it took her death for the BJP to step into the murky waters of Dravidian politics. Next came the other Southern State of Karnataka and it was a merry-go-round for the BJP. It exercised all its options to plug and play the leadership game and finally engineered its win to place Yeddyurappa in power.

Kerala is the prohibited apple for it and it had not succeeded there in any way in the past and there is little chance of it to come to power in the future too. If we go by the other day's attack on the Telangana government by the all India President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, J P Nadda, it is clear that the latter has decided to take on the Telangana government.

J P Nadda did not stop at levelling ordinary allegations at Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of generalised corruption charges, or administrative failures etc., but chose to mount a personal attack. He termed Chandrashekar Rao's projects, particularly, the Kaleshwaram LI project as a "project of percentages".

He had gone ahead and said, keeping aside all the hobnobbing both the political parties did all these days, that Chandrashekar Rao had undertaken the project only for the sake of percentages. He might not have expected the BJP to sharpen its attack against him now. Not now, because the country is in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemonium.

In addition, there is the border dispute with China and 20 of our soldiers got martyred and the nation is still in the mourning mood. But that is the BJP for us. It acts and reacts at the most unexpected times. Amid all these, it needled Rajasthan forcing the Congress to scoot to resorts just ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.

It had pulled down Madhya Pradesh when the Congress was still busy in its infighting. And now the TRS government seems to be its target. Of course, the TRS reacted immediately first using its whip; and next its Minister. But it should know that the BJP would use all means to fight the TRS. As has been written here in the past, it will use its leaders to campaign, the investigative agencies will be unleashed, and raids and probes also could be conducted.

There should be no denying of it. In the past, we have seen the Congress doing the same. But the BJP has only bested it. An allegation does not merely fly out of the BJP's bigwigs' mouths. It is only indicative of their wily designs. Coming to Andhra Pradesh, a pattern seems to be emerging.

The BJP leadership is carefully using the YSRCP government to attack the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leadership. Reports of the ED probing some past cases have surfaced. Cases are being filed against the TDP leaders who are said to be powerful enough to attack the government. All these, in addition to drafting the top guns of the TDP into the party. Doors of the BJP are wide open for those who want to join its fold in Andhra Pradesh.

It was earlier rumoured that the State Election Commissioner "was used" by the BJP to attack the State government. Of course, it cleverly dragged the TDP into muddy waters to deflect the blame from it. Now comes the issue of Narsapuram MP, Rama Krishna Raju.

This gentleman, who had turned critical of Jagan Mohan Reddy, deliberately donned victimhood in attacking the YSRCP government on and off. Finally, he had written a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, complaining that his life was in danger in the hands of the ruling party leaders. For good measure, he used the TDP to draw the attention of the BJP.

This charge sounds familiar to whoever is keeping track of the State government vs SEC imbroglio. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been extra-careful in wooing the BJP leadership by extending all courtesies including by offering a Rajya Sabha seat to Parimal Nathwani reportedly at the behest of the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.

He had not missed any opportunity in expressing his support to the Centre.

It is always said that the BJP leadership locally might fight him, but at the Centre he has the blessings of the bigwigs. It may not be true and if someone at the top has turned a benign eye on his government, it could be more because of the numbers game. Jagan's is the fourth largest party in the Lok Sabha with 22 members and the BJP is still wary of the Rajya Sabha where it needs the YSRCP support in no uncertain terms too.

The rulers of the two Telugu States must ponder over their strengths and plan it out. Because the BJP knows their weaknesses pretty well!