Hyderabad: Acknowledging that the BJP’s organisational strength still needs to be improved in some districts in Telangana, the saffron party’s new state president N Ramchander Rao on Friday said the party is focusing on growing in those places, besides consolidating itself in areas where it is traditionally strong.Rao, an ABVP veteran who succeeded Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy as state BJP chief on July 1, said his focus would be on strengthening the organisation in districts including Nalgonda, Khammam, and Warangal.His first visit after taking over the new role was to Nalgonda and Surypet in South Telangana, and also his native village near Kodad, where he got a huge response, Rao told PTI.The party is also focusing on consolidating its presence in Hyderabad and neighbouring areas. Observing that the BJP is traditionally strong in north Telangana districts, including Karimnagar and Nizamabad, he said the party would like to grow uniformly across the state.Asked about his immediate challenge of upcoming local body polls, Rao said BJP has decided to contest as many seats as possible in the local polls and that it is taking up farmers’ issues in a big way.”We are developing our organisation from the grassroots level, booth level. We are taking up the issues of farmers in rural areas. We are also concentrating on urban areas for municipal elections, municipal corporation elections,” he told PTI.BJP did not concentrate much on local bodies earlier, he said, expressing confidence that the party would get people’s support in both rural and urban areas in the coming elections.He pointed out that the BJP has recently won two MLC seats in the state. BJP had won eight of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 and an equal number of MLA seats in the 2023 assembly polls.He also said people of the state, having seen both BRS and Congress failing to realize the aspirations of the Telangana statehood agitation, look at the BJP as an alternative.Asked if the resignation of firebrand MLA Raja Singh from BJP is a setback, Rao said no individual is above the party. “Our party stands on the strength of our cadre, the strength of ideology. It does not stand on any individual,” he said.Raja Singh had quit BJP after expressing reservations about Ramchander Rao’s candidature and seeking to contest himself for the post of state unit chief. Asked if there would be any understanding with BRS in view of BRS MLC K Kavitha’s reported comments earlier that some persons in BRS had sought to merge the party with BJP during her jail term in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, Rao asked why should Kavitha’s comments be given credence.The BJP leader alleged that the 42 per cent reservation announced by the Congress government is only an eyewash and the ruling party wants to use the “BC card” for political mileage.He also voiced opposition to the reservation to Muslims in the BC category.
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