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BJP wooing top Congress leaders
BJP wooing top Congress leaders, Venkaiah had openly said that the Congress had lost its ground and the YSR Congress was not able to fill the opposition slot, leaving a huge gap in the State politics.
Wants to emerge a force to reckon with, despite ties with TDP
- Feelers sent to Vundavalli, Sabbam, Harsha Kumar, Lagadapati
- Party sees a huge political vacuum, says Cong, YSRCP unable to fill it
- High command assigns the task to senior leaders like Kavuri, Kanna
- Kiran Kumar told to rally his team; he is to wait till others join
Vijayawada: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has launched its membership drive in the city on November 30 is understood to have set its eyes on senior Congress leaders, particularly those who championed the Samaikyandhra cause and are staying away from active politics. Former BJP president and Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who launched the membership drive, had reportedly told the senior leaders to invite more leaders and fill the political vacuum caused by the Congress party.
Venkaiah had openly said that the Congress had lost its ground and the YSR Congress was not able to fill the opposition slot, leaving a huge gap in the State politics. He said BJP should fill up the vacuum. In the first step, the party had roped in former Union minister Daggubati Purandeswari before the elections and senior Congress leader Kavuri Sambasiva Rao immediately after the elections. In the second step, the party had won over the former minister and senior Congress leader Kanna Lakshminarayana.
Now, the party is learned to be keen on getting former MPs, Vundavalli Arunkumar, Sabbam Hari, G V Harsha Kumar and Lagadapati Rajagopal into the party.
Interestingly, it is for the sake of this team that the BJP is delaying the admission of former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy into the party. These former MPs have rallied together with Kirankumar Reddy during the Samaikyandhra agitation. However, only Harsha Kumar continued to sail with Kirankumar Reddy during the elections and even contested on the Jai Samaikyandhra Party, while others stayed away. Sabbam Hari withdrew from the contest at Visakhapatnam in favour of BJP nominee K Haribabu, which had helped in the BJP’s victory there.
The task of holding talks with these former MPs was assigned to Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and Kanna Lakshminarayana. The former MPs strongly feel that the Congress leadership had betrayed them in the bifurcation issue. Interestingly, it was Kavuri who led these leaders both inside and outside the Parliament during the Samaikyandhra agitation and the MPs have respect for him even today.
The BJP is also trying to rope in the north Andhra senior leader Konathala Ramakrishna, who quit the YSRCP. Though there are rumors that former APCC president Botcha Satyanarayana too would be joining the BJP, the sources did not confirm it.
