SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad
Former Telangana BJP unit President MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s hopes of becoming a Union Minister have been shattered by the party’s high command. By appointing Sanjay as the General Secretary of the party the BJP high command signalled that he has no chance to join the Union Cabinet.
Sanjay is disappointed at not getting a Union Minister post but the chances of the other hopefuls are still alive. There are speculations that Prime Minister Modi is going to reshuffle the Union Cabinet before the Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, there were speculations that Sanjay would be replaced by some other leader as the Telangana BJP President and that he will be taken into the Union Cabinet.
The names of BJP MPs Sanjay, Dharmapuri Arvind and K. Lakshman (Rajya Sabha) were in circulation for the Union Cabinet Minister post. After Sanjay was replaced by Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy as the Telangana BJP President, the hopes of Sanjay’s followers of him getting into the Union Cabinet increased.
But suddenly the BJP high command appointed him as the party’s General Secretary which was not expected by his followers. As per the BJP’s principle of one-man-one-post, Sanjay lost his chance to become a Union Minister after he was appointed as the BJP’s General Secretary.
Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy is likely to be dropped from the Union Cabinet as he has been appointed as the Telangana BJP President.
The followers of Sanjay were not able to digest the high command’s decision to appoint him as the General Secretary and not to take him into the Union Cabinet.
They are not able to understand why the BJP high command gave a promotion to Sanjay by appointing him as the General Secretary and a demotion at the same time by not taking him into the Union Cabinet.
But senior BJP leaders say that in the BJP the General Secretary post is more important than a Union Minister post. The high command has given due regard to Sanjay by recognising his services and has appointed him as the General Secretary. But in public eyes, a minister post is more valuable than a party post.
Meanwhile, after appointing Sanjay as the BJP General Secretary Union Minister post hopefuls think that a wicket of the competition is down. They are hoping to bag a Union Minister post in the next Cabinet reshuffle.
There were talks that BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao will be taken into the Union Cabinet and that he will represent both the Telugu states.
But state BJP leaders think that as Telangana is facing Assembly elections in a few months the BJP high command will give representation to Telangana in the Union Cabinet.
Dharmapuri Arvind and K. Lakshman are the frontrunners for the Union Minister post. Adilabad MP Soyam Babu Rao’s name is also in the hopeful’s list. But BJP leaders think that after admitting that he had used MPLADS funds for constructing his house and for his son’s marriage, Babu Rao lost his chance to become a Union Minister.
