If Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar is grumbling for being sacked as the president of Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party unceremoniously, Union minister for tourism G Kishan Reddy is also said to be unhappy for being appointed in Sanjay’s place.
According to sources close to Kishan Reddy, he feels he has been made a scapegoat in the entire drama, which is being seen as a secret understanding between the BJP and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Sources said Kishan Reddy is of the view that there is nothing much he could do revive the spirits of the party, if he is appointed four to five months before the state assembly elections, as the party is in virtual shambles.
“If Sanjay is continued as the Telangana BJP chief, he would have been held responsible for the victory or loss of the party in the elections. If the BJP comes to power, the credit would have gone to him and if it doesn’t, the blame would go to him,” sources said.
That way, Kishan Reddy would have been on a safer side had Sanjay been continued.
“But now, the party has bleak chances of coming to power; or at least, it would be Herculean task for Kishan Reddy to bring the party to power,” sources said.
Already, the message has gone into the people that there is an understanding between the BJP and the BRS.
“So, if the BJP loses power, it will be Kishan Reddy, who has to take the entire blame on him and bear the brand of being a failed leader,” they said.
Secondly, Kishan Reddy would have to step down as the Union tourism minister now, as there is no tradition in the BJP of a Union minister being appointed as the state party chief.
“So, he will be losing a prestigious position of a Union minister and taking up a clumsy job of the party president facing revolts and rebellions,” the party sources said.