Will the BJP State leadership want Dharmapuri Aravind, who joined the party with much interest to contest the Nizamabad Lok Sabha, to be ready to face the Assembly election either from Balkonda or Banswada? The recent visit of its national president Amit Shah suggest so.
Very reliable sources in the BJP said that Mr. Shah made it clear to the party cadres that anybody who wants to contest the Lok Sabha has to prepare for facing the Assembly election first. “Party will not give opportunity to be in the fray for Lok Sabha directly without contesting the Assembly. It is the party’s policy and Mr. Shah is very serious about it,” said a party senior leader pleading anonymity.
If that is the case, Aravind, younger son of the TRS Rajya Sabha member D. Srinivas, has to decide himself to choose between the two. The party leadership, which is seriously searching a strong candidate to face the Agriculture Minister P. Srinivas Reddy in Banswada, might give the first preference to Aravind given the numerical advantage of his community, Munnuru Kapu and also his wherewithal.
Aravind’s ancestral village, Velpur, however, comes under the Balkonda Assembly constituency which was represented by the Mission Bhagiratha vice-chairman V. Prashanth Reddy in the just dissolved Assembly. In fact, Prashanth Reddy also hails from the same village.
‘Committed activist’
With Aravind claiming that he is a very committed activist in the BJP and staunch bhakt (devotee) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is unlikely to disobey the party decision and may need to be prepared for contesting the Assembly as the combined elections to the Assembly and the Parliament appear to be well neigh impossible if the fast preparedness of the Election Commission of India is any indication.
The BJP is hopeful of reversing the situation in Banswada putting a check to the influence of Srinivas Reddy provided it is able to field a suitable candidate. Last time in the 2014 elections the TDP candidate Badyanayak unsuccessfully contested the election in alliance with the BJP and came in third position in the triangular fight.