BJP rewards defectors
The Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party is rewarding the defectors from other parties by giving them tickets to the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. The BJP leadership showing winnability as the reason for selecting the defectors, but it has sent a wrong signal to its leaders and cadre working hard for 10 years.
TELANGANA
In the BJP's list of candidates contesting the poll, as many as seven leaders are defectors from other parties. With 4 sitting MPs, the BJP is planning to bag 10 of the 17 LS seats in the Telugu state.
Political analysts say the lack of strong candidates made the BJP lure leaders from its rivals. The party fielded turncoats in four reserved constituencies. In most of the seven seats, it finished third in 2019. Its leaders hope key leaders from BRS will better its prospects.
In Adilabad, BJP fielded G Nagesh, a former BRS MP, after he joined it. Nagesh lost to BJP’s Soyam Bapu Rao in 2019 in the same ST constituency. Nagesh was earlier elected to the Lok Sabha from Adilabad on TRS (now BRS) ticket in 2014. He was fielded days after he joined TRS. Nagesh, the son of former minister G Ramarao, was first elected to the Assembly of undivided Andhra from Boath in 1994 and served as junior minister for scheduled tribes welfare and welfare of the handicapped in the cabinet of N Chandrababu Naidu.
In Zaheerabad, BJP has fielded MP BB Patil, who was elected as BRS candidate in 2019 and recently jumped ship. In Nagarkurnool, P Bharat, son of sitting MP P Ramulu of BRS is in the fray. The father-son duo quit BRS to join BJP on Feb 29.
In Mahabubabad, reserved for STs, BJP fielded A Seetharam Naik soon after he quit BRS and joined it. Seetharam Naik, who was elected in 2014 from BRS, was aspiring for a ticket again but BRS leadership decided to field MP Kavitha Maloth.
In Nalgonda, BJP has fielded former MLA S Saidi Reddy after he defected from BRS. He was elected to Assembly on a BRS ticket from Huzurnagar in the by-election in 2019 but lost the recent poll.
Peddapalli LS seat, where it has fielded G Srinivas, a defector from Congress, was won by BRS in 2019.