Hinting at the possibility of the BJP going to the elections on its own in the 2019 elections, its national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao has said: “The TDP does not occupy the entire electoral and political space in the State and there is adequate room for us to expand our base, and we will strive to do that in the coming days.”
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Mr. Muralidhar said that the BJP was not depending on any party.
“We have our strength and we will reach out to every household through our cadres. This exercise will not only be done in A.P. but also in all southern States. Even reverse inputs will be communicated to the leadership,” he said.
“The BJP is on a cadre-building drive, especially in the southern States, to consolidate its position. Alliances will not be a hurdle or roadblock,” he added.
He, however, was fast to add that there was no bad blood with any of our alliances, including the TDP.
“But there is space for everyone to build their base, which is nothing wrong,” Mr. Muralidhar added.
Stating that special attention was being paid to all the southern States, besides Odisha and West Bengal.
“We are forming clusters and each MP from these regions will be heading one cluster to strengthen the party base. Our idea is to become the main player in the southern States. And we will welcome every individual into the party, including those from other parties,” he said.
Reforms
On demonetisation and GST, he said: “Both the reforms are revolutionary. They are bound to have some initial setbacks. They will not have any adverse impact in the long run. Our economy is largely informal and the reforms will temporarily impact that segment.”
On Congress vice-president Ruhul Gandhi’s visit to the US, Mr. Muralidhar said he was trying to replicate Mr. Modi’s style of functioning.
“But he should remember that Mr. Modi had come to power without banking on the US. In fact, prior to the elections, Mr. Modi had been banned by the US. Instead of holidaying in the US, Mr. Rahul Gandhi should have been present in Karnataka to support his party in the upcoming Assembly elections,” he said.
Railway zone
On the promised exclusive railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters, Mr. Muralidhar was neither committal nor non-committal. He said all election promises made would be fulfilled before 2019.