It appears Bharatiya Janata Party high command has given directions to the Andhra Pradesh BJP unit to get ready for the contesting the by-elections to Tirupati Lok Sabha seat to be held shortly.
According to reports from New Delhi, the BJP bosses in Delhi told state party unit president Somu Veerraju to gear up the party cadre for contesting the Tirupati elections. They asked Veerraju to convince Jana Sena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan to drop out from the contest in the national interest.
It may be mentioned that Pawan Kalyan has been making hectic lobbying for getting the Tirupati seat allocated to Jana Sena as part of understanding with the BJP during the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.
He even went to Delhi and stayed there for three days to meet BJP national president J P Nadda to lobby for Tirupati seat. However, Nadda told him that a committee would decide on the candidate after studying the ground situation.
Veerraju, who went to New Delhi on Friday, held discussions with the party high command on the issue. And Nadda reportedly told him that it would be better the BJP itself contested the Tirupati seat, because of the prevailing circumstances in the state, which are favourable to the BJP.
“It shall be a joint candidate of the BJP and Jana Sena combine. The party is jubilant after the success it has got in GHMC polls and Dubbak by-polls in Telangana. We shall fight the Tirupati bypolls with the same enthusiasm,” Veerraju said.
The BJP is planning to step up its agitation over a series of attacks on temples and destruction of idols. This would help the party gain the sympathy of Hindus in Tirupati, the party feels.