The sudden U-turn taken by Bharatiya Janata Party Andhra Pradesh state unit president Somu Veerraju on projection of a backward class leader as the chief ministerial candidate has come as a big surprise.
Veerraju told reporters on Friday that he had never made any statement that the BJP would make a BC leader as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, if it was voted to power in the next elections.
“Some people have distorted my statements,” he said, throwing the blame on the media.
He said the chief ministerial candidate would be decided by BJP national president J P Nadda and his alliance partner Jana Sena party president Pawan Kalyan.
“The state party has no role to decide on the CM candidate,” he said.
The BJP leader tried to explain that he had only said the party had made a BC leader like Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister and challenged whether the YSR Congress or the TDP could ever project a BC leader as the chief minister.
However, sources said, Veerraju reversed his statement after getting a reprimand form the BJP bosses in Delhi. Apparently, Jana Sena Party leaders brought his statement to the notice of Nadda and other seniors, stating that such comments would create troubles for the alliance.
The Jana Sena has joined hands with the BJP only with a condition that Pawan Kalyan would be the chief ministerial candidate of the combine.
As of now, the BJP doesn’t have a leader of charisma and attraction of its own to be projected as the CM candidate.