It has been a long way to go for the assembly elections in Telangana, unless the Narendra Modi government at the Centre goes in for simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies in the country next year.
As of now, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is pretty strong in the state, though the Bharatiya Janata Party is gradually gaining strength.
One cannot rule out the Congress party, too, as it has the capacity to bounce back if it gets a strong leadership in the state.
Yet, the BJP leaders in the state have already dreaming about coming to power in the next elections. No doubt, the BJP has a chance but it is too early to talk about winning the elections.
However, the party leaders are of the view that they should project a strong leader as the chief ministerial candidate who can match up to the stature of KCR.
Though present state BJP president Bandi Sanjay has emerged as a strong leader of the party with his aggressive approach and rabble-rousing speeches, he cannot be projected as the CM candidate who can take on KCR.
Then, the party leaders are also talking about Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy as the potential CM candidate. He is suitable for the post, but the party leaders feel he is too mild and lacks the aggression to lead the party.
Sources said former Union minister and former Governor of Maharashtra Ch Vidyasagar Rao is lobbying to be projected as the CM candidate of the BJP in the next elections. All said and done, Vidyasagar Rao is a well-known and respectable figure in the party and is also a good speaker.
Secondly, he has fair knowledge about Telangana and can speak eloquently on issues concerning the state with a lot of command. Unlike Bandi Sanjay, he will not lose his tongue to make cheap remarks.
Thirdly, he hails from Velama community, which is politically and financially strong in Telangana.
“If Vidyasagar Rao is projected as CM candidate, it will bring a lot of respect to the party in the elections. Secondly, it is not necessary that the CM candidate himself has to lead the party in the elections. Leaders like Bandi Sanjay, Arvind, Raghunandan Rao, K Laxman and Kishan Reddy can take the responsibility of the campaign,” a senior BJP leader said.