Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to conduct a massive a campaign across Andhra Pradesh (AP) to counter the charge that it is responsible for the state not getting special category status (SCS).
Once the Karnataka assembly election is over, BJP workers will distribute booklets to people explaining what the party has done for the state since the 2014 state and Lok Sabha elections.
The demand for SCS has become a key political issue ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
“Ten lakh booklets will be distributed to people across the state in a door-to-door campaign, explaining what BJP has done in the last four years. We will also expose the (ruling) Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) failure in fulfilling its election promises and a massive campaign will be held to inform the public about the state government’s corruption, as well,” said S. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, BJP leader and state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the party’s youth wing.
Another senior leader from the BJP in AP, who did not want to be identified, said that after the Karnataka elections, Union ministers are also expected to visit the state and explain what works have been taken up under their respective departments. “The central leadership is very serious about its expansion plans in AP,” he added.
After the Union budget in February, opposition parties and the TDP demanded that the centre fulfil all the promises made to AP during its bifurcation with Telangana in 2014. It later blamed the BJP for not giving SCS. The TDP broke its alliance with the BJP, alleging “injustice” to AP, and exited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in March.
The issue of SCS has now taken centre stage in AP politics, with the state witnessing two shutdowns over it. TDP spokesperson Lanka Dinakar, however, said such a campaign will not work and termed it as a “diversionary tactic”.
“Modi as the Prime Minister candidate had promised SCS for AP in Tirupathi before his party came to power. He even promised to build a bigger capital for AP than New Delhi as well. The BJP has failed to keep its promises and has also lost its credibility post demonetisation,” Dinakar told Mint.
Given the circumstances, the BJP’s statewide campaign is unlikely to work, political analyst Palwai Raghvendra Reddy said, pointing out that it will not be easy to convince the public as to why AP has not been accorded SCS. “Right now, there is a single point agenda, that is SCS, so printing booklets about other things will be useless. Under the present circumstances, it will have a tough time in AP in the coming elections,” he added.