Newcomers praise Gaddar, creating a rift in party ranks
Hyderabad: Union minister of state Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s firm stance against the state government’s proposal of honoring Gaddar with the Padma Shri appears to have boomeranged, creating a rift between the old-timers and new entrants.
With new entrants eyeing to get the top job in the state party unit, staunch loyalists of the party have been referring to comments made by few leaders and their social media groups within the party eulogising the services rendered by the late balladeer.
”Let these new leaders be given party tickets for MLA and MP seats, but appointing them as state president would send a wrong message as they are still not assimilating with the party ideology. It is highly improper for these people to support Naxals and their sympathisers, who have taken the lives of hundreds of party activists and nationalist thinkers,” said a senior office bearer in the state party.
Some BJP MPs and their media team members, who were previously associated with other parties, highlighted Gaddar’s contributions to Telangana’s cultural and political movements. This directly contradicted Sanjay, who accused Gaddar of having a Naxalite past and being responsible for the deaths of BJP activists. The differing opinions created a visible rift and ideological differences within the Telangana BJP.
The old-timers referred to the social media account of party MP from Chevella Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who hailed Gaddar as a person who fought for the upliftment of the poor throughout his life with song and dance. They also pointed out the social media member of Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajendar sharing a post that criticised “BJP Telangana Bandi Sanjay Kumar”. In the post, Sanjay was asked to get the right feedback from his political guru on Gaddar's contribution.
A senior BJP leader, who didn’t want to be quoted, said that the posts have been deleted after strong opposition within the party and shared screenshots of the controversial posts.
