Top BJP national leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was supposed to address a huge public meeting in Khammam on Thursday, June 15.
Telangana BJP leaders had made elaborate arrangements over the past few days to ensure Amit Shah's public meeting was a grand success. They had set targets for local BJP leaders in Khammam, Nalgonda, Warangal, and Karimnagar districts to mobilize one lakh people for the public meeting.
However, on Wednesday, when everything was in place, Telangana BJP leaders received a shocking communication from Amit Shah around noon, stating that he would not be coming to Khammam for the public meeting. He cited his busy schedule of monitoring the impact of cyclone Biparjoy as the reason for the cancellation.
But no one in the Telangana BJP is convinced with the reason given by Amit Shah for canceling the Khammam public meeting scheduled for Thursday.
In fact, Amit Shah's sudden decision has triggered speculation within BJP circles regarding what prompted him to abruptly call off the Khammam meeting.
According to BJP insiders, Amit Shah was very upset with the Telangana BJP leaders for failing to finalize the joining of at least one senior leader from Congress, BRS, or any other party in his presence at the Khammam public meeting.
Reportedly, BJP leaders had informed Amit Shah until today that their talks with former BRS MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy had reached the final stages, and he was ready to join BJP at the Khammam meeting. However, on Wednesday, they informed Amit Shah that Ponguleti was not willing to join BJP and preferred to join Congress instead. They also informed him that no major leader from any party had confirmed their joining in BJP so far.
This reportedly angered Amit Shah, leading to the decision to cancel the Khammam meeting. However, to save the party's face, Telangana BJP leaders are reportedly claiming that Amit Shah canceled the Khammam meeting due to a review meeting on the cyclone.