A late night meeting between TRS biggie Harish Rao and BJP leader G Vivek Venkata Swamy has set off intense speculations over the latter leaving the party to join the TRS. The late night meeting, though kept a secret, became the talk of the political town. The BJP is watching the developments anxiously.
It is an open secret that Vivek has been angling for a Rajya Sabha seat. But, the BJP has been largely non-committal on the issue. This has led to discontent in Vivek. He is beginning to feel that the BJP was using his clout and money power to its advantage but is not rewarding him suitably. Sources say that Harish Rao has offered him a Rajya Sabha seat. Whether Vivek took the bait or not is not known.
Vivek plays a very important role in the BJP scheme of things. He is important because of his money and media power. Vivek runs a Telugu daily and a 24×7 news channel. They act as key influencers in Telangana. He is also playing an important role in the BJP scheme of things in Huzurabad bypolls. It would be a huge loss for the BJP if Vivek leaves the party.
However, BJP argues that this was a mind-game that the TRS was playing on the BJP ahead of the Huzurabad bypolls. It said that there was no question of Vivek leaving the BJP and joining the TRS. “In fact, he came out of the TRS only because it mistreated him. So, the question of Vivek rejoining the TRS does not arise,’ said a senior BJP leader.
