The wait is finally over for the saffron party in Telangana. In a historic mandate, four BJP candidates emerged victorious in the Loksabha polls, ensuring a grand debut for the national party in Telangana.
While BJP's former state chief G Kishan Reddy won in sitting seat Secunderabad, like many expected, what's amazed one and all is the victory of other three candidates. The victory of Dharmapuri Arvind from Nizamabad, Bandi Sanjay from Karimnagar and Soyam Babu Rao from Adilabad amazed people and political analysts alike.
Though BJP has been gaining ground steadily in most parts of India over the past two decades, has not been able to repeat the same in Telangana, in spite of a dedicated cadre and vote bank, due to various reasons. But thanks to Modi wave and TRS party's mistakes, 2019 General Elections gave much needed break for the party in youngest state of India.
Especially Dharmapuri Arvind's victory in Nizamabad, where he trounced sitting MP and Telangana CM KCR's daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha, sent clear signals to CM KCR that Telangana people are ready to side with BJP and dump ruling TRS, if needed and Telanagana is not the 'jagir' of Kalvakuntla family.
Nizamabad election made headlines at national level as 178 farmers filed nominations against CM KCR's daughter, to highlight the failure of Telangana government in addressing farm distress. Even after results, Nizamabad seat made headlines at national level, as daughter of Telangana CM, who ardently pitched for Federal Front, got defeated by a rookie. Ironically BJP's winning candidate D Arvind's father D Srinivas is officially Rajyasabha MP from TRS, but has been keeping away from TRS.
Another notable victory is of Bandi Sanjay in Karimnagar segment, where he trounced KCR’s close confidante, sitting MP B Vinod Kumar. Though Karimnagar was considered among the probable seats where BJP might give tough fight, majority of 89508 votes, points towards BJP's future prospects in Telangana.
The trend has been so favourable towards BJP, even in the tribal dominant Adilabad, Soyam Babu Rao won. TRS party's growing familiarity with AIMIM, is said to have backfired in Adilabad constituency, which has a history of communal tension, leading to BJP's victory. Giving ticket to Adivasi leader Soyam Babu Rao who defected to BJP from Congress, also helped saffron party score a stunning victory.
While BJP won four seats in the fiercely fought polls, what's significant is, it fought this elections without any alliance. Fighting elections alone and coming up with such an impeccable performance, signals towards a dawn of a new era in Telangana politics, where three party fight will be witnessed among TRS, BJP and Congress.
"We have been saying that BJP will emerge as the alternative to ruling TRS after Loksabha polls in Telangana. People saw BJP as better party to fight TRS than Congress. BJP has a good cadre and strong organisational set up. We have been looking for opportunity to make our presence felt in Telanagna politics. This is a monumental opportunity for BJP's growth in Telangana and we will utilise it to make inroads into every village and remotest corner of Telangana," said N Ramchander Rao, senior leader of BJP speaking to The Pioneer after the results.
Though Ramchander Rao, BJP's leader in Legislative Council, lost in Malkajgiri, expressed confidence that this is the new beginning for BJP in not just Telangana but also will pave way for further expansion of party in South India.
BJP's debut has been so impressive that it got a vote share of about 20 percent in GE 2019 in Telangana, compared to about 8 percent in 2018 Assembly polls. The massive gain in seat and vote share, has given a new reason and purpose for BJP leaders and cadres across Telangana, to embark on a new journey and set their sights high.