Is the game over for BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay? After two stunningly spectacular back-to-back victories in Dubbak and GHMC, has his sword got blunted? Is he unable to steer the party to victory anymore? This is the question that is being asked not just outside the party, but also even within the BJP.
There is a growing perception that the wantonly aggressive criticism of Bandi Sanjay is responsible for turning the voter away from the BJP. Bandi’s comments are proving counter-productive. The voters apparently did not like the way he was after KCR and went hammer and tongs against him.
The party has lost both the Graduate MLC elections, polling for which was held recently. It failed to keep the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar seat, where its candidate Ramachandra Rao lost narrowly. It stood a poor fourth in the Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam seat. As a result, there are heated debates over Sanjay’s strategies. Excessive attack on KCR and KTR and lack of political cleverness are said to be the reasons for poor performance.
More problematic is his comment that the TRS had terrorised and forced the government employees and the graduates to vote for it. This has sparked lot of memes on the social media. The netizens lampooned his comments and said that such comments, especially in defeat, are uncalled for.
Now the biggest challenge for the BJP is the Nagarjunasagar bypoll. The Congress already has a candidate, while the TRS would announce its candidate at the last moment. The BJP does not have any candidate so far. The BJP has to emerge at least as a second if it has to retain its hold in Telangana. If the party loses Nagarjunasagar, the cadre would be further demoralised.
