ADILABAD: Amid the ongoing fight between Lambadas and Adivasis, the Adilabad MP and Thudumdebba president Soyam Bapurao has said the BJP is not interested in inducting Congress leader and former MP Ramesh Rathod and TRS leader Anil Jadhav into the saffron party.
Soyam Bapurao said the two leaders are misguiding the people and their party cadres by saying they have got nod from the BJP central leadership to join the party. “The BJP will not take them in when many senior leaders in the BJP are waiting to contest the coming polls,” he said.
BJP district president Payal Shankar is also opposing the entry of these leaders into the party.
Both Ramesh Rathod and Anil Jadhav belong to the Lambada community. They are keen on joining the upwardly mobile BJP to secure their political future.
Adivasis are agitating to press their demand that the state and central governments remove the Lambadas from the ST list. Adivasis say Lambadas got entry into ST list through questionable means without following due procedure.
Ramesh Rathod had joined the TRS from the TDP and later shifted to the Congress to contest the assembly polls from Khanapur seat but was defeated. The Congress party gave MP ticket to Ramesh Rathod while denying the same to Soyam Bapurao in the last Lok Sabha elections. Soyam Bapurao contested as MLA on Congress ticket and was defeated in the 2018 elections.
The then-senior candidate Anil Jadhav contested as an independent candidate against party candidate Soyam Bapurao in assembly polls, when both were in the Congress. Soyam Bapurao was defeated with a lesser margin of votes. During the Lok Sabha elections, Soyam Bapurao joined the BJP and contested and won the seat.
Feelings are that Ramesh Rathod spoilt the chances of getting MP ticket in the Congress and Anil Jadhav had indirectly defeated the party candidate Soyam Bapurao. Given this background, Soyam Bapurao is now opposing the joining of Ramesh Rathod and Anil Jadhav in the BJP.
Ramesh Rathod is known for his penchant to try and dominate other leaders whichever party he joined.
