ADILABAD: In stark contrast to its image of being a party of discipline, some leaders of the Adilabad unit of the BJP are acting on their own while trying to catch the eye of the leadership.
As the General Elections draw near, aspirants for the Adilabad Lok Sabha ticket have launched their own campaigns, causing a stir within the party ranks.
Rajesh Babu, former Bhainsa Market Committee chairman has made his bid for the ticket, launching an on-the-ground campaign. He is criss-crossing the streets of Adilabad town in a vehicle adorned with posters featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other party leaders, and a loudspeaker mounted on the vehicle extolling the significance of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
This has left the other BJP aspirants, especially the sitting Adilabad BJP MP Soyam Bapu Rao bewildered. The unconventional campaigning strategy adopted by Rajesh Babu has surprised many within the party. What is more perplexing to them is the fact that the party has not named Rajesh Babu its candidate.
Elsewhere, Adilabad BJP MLA Payal Shankar has raised eyebrows by skipping the preparatory meeting for the parliamentary elections held on February 2. Instead, he attended a programme organised by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at Nagoba temple in Keslapur village of Indravelly mandal which comes under the Khanapur constituency.
This set off speculation in both the BJP and the Congress about Shankar’s future allegiances. There is talk that he might consider joining the Congress, especially considering his previous plans to switch sides if denied an Assembly ticket in the previous elections. The unexpected absence from the party’s preparatory meeting and then attending a Congress event have fuelled these speculations.
