It appears Union home minister Amit Shah had felt there is no better person than media baron Ramoji Rao to woo the Kamma lobby in the next year’s assembly elections in Telangana and 2024 elections in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the BJP sources, Amit Shah’s gesture of going straight to Ramoji Film City to meet Ramoji Rao sent positive message among the Kammas who treat the media baron as the community elder.
For the last three years, Ramoji Rao’s Eenadu group of publications has been writing negative stories about the BJP and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for obvious reason – they have been treating the TDP and its president N Chandrababu Naidu as enemies.
Though the BJP has paid little attention to this aspect all these days, it has now realised the importance of the Kamma community now, particularly in Telangana which is the immediate target of the saffron party.
“In Telangana, Eenadu has more or less been supporting the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi. There are hardly any negative stories against KCR. On the other hand, it has been projecting the BJP in bad light,” a source said.
According to a study made by the BJP leaders, Kamma settlers play a considerable role in at least 20 constituencies, majority of them in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. They are at present supporting the TRS as there is no other alternative.
Similarly, in another 35 seats in southern Telangana, the BJP has little presence. In another seven to eight seats held by the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the BJP has absolutely no chance.
“So, the BJP cannot hope to win in more than 60 seats. It cannot expect to come to power in Telangana, even if it wins 50 seats out of the remaing 59,” the study observed.
So, the BJP is trying to woo Andhra settlers, so that it can win at least 10 seats dominated by them.
“That is precisely why Shah met Ramoji Rao and sought his help – directly by influencing Kamma lobby and indirectly by shedding his anti-BJP stand,” sources said.
What Ramoji Rao had asked Shah in return is not immediately known, but it is believed that he has sought the BJP’s help to bring the TDP back to power in Andhra.