In any political party, especially in the Telugu states, if a leader is appointed as the in-charge or coordinator of any assembly constituency, it is expected that he would be the party candidate for the seat.
Normally, a sitting MLA of any constituency is considered the in-charge of the party for that constituency. If the party doesn’t represent the constituency in the assembly, any leader who is in-charge of the constituency is likely to get the party ticket in the next elections.
If the party wants to deny the ticket to any sitting MLA, it will appoint another leader as the in-charge of the constituency, indicating that he will be the candidate for the next elections.
So, when the Bharatiya Janata Party appointed the party leaders as in-charges and coordinators of various constituencies in Telangana recently, they were all jubilant, as they were expecting that they would get the party tickets in the next assembly elections scheduled in second half of next year.
But to their utter shock and dismay, the party national leadership made it clear to them that those who have been appointed as in-charges and coordinators of various constituencies would not be eligible for contesting the elections and they should work for the victory of the candidates who would be given the tickets.
When BJP general secretary in-charge of Telangana Sunil Bansal made this announcement at the party’s training camp that concluded in Hyderabad on Tuesday, everybody was shocked.
So, former MLAs Yennam Srinivas Reddy, Yendala Lakshminarayana and M Dharma Rao, besides senior leaders like former public service commission member Vithal and former Hyderabad mayor Banda Karthika Reddy, who were appointed as the party in-charges for various constituencies, won’t be getting the party tickets to contest the elections.
With their political future at stake, these leaders have appealed to state BJP president Bandi Sanjay that they would not accept the constituency in-charge posts, as they want the party tickets for the assembly tickets.
They told Sanjay that when they were appointed as in-charges of constituencies, they thought they were entrusted with key responsibilities and would get the party tickets to contest the elections.
“Sunil Bansal’s statement that we should all work for the party sincerely but not expect the party tickets in the elections has demoralised all of us. We don’t’ want these party posts, but want party tickets,” they said.
They are bringing pressure on the BJP leadership to sack them from the party posts and give them party tickets for the next elections. Sanjay, who is caught in a dilemma, is yet to consider their request.