Party would be going alone in the forthcoming general elections : Shah

In an effort to put an end to speculation that the party has some kind of understanding with the TRS here, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national President Amit Shah on Friday said to have told party leaders here to go all out against the ruling dispensation.

In closed-door consultations with Sangh Parivar members at a hotel, full-time district workers and the State Election Management Committee of senior leaders at the party office, Mr. Shah has asserted that the party would be going alone in the forthcoming general elections and advised them to be with the general public and expose the misdeeds of the government here.At the same time he seemed to have expressed doubts about the party’s capability to take on the TRS in the forthcoming general elections and wanted it to be strengthened further at the village level before it could hope to dethrone the government in the State.

“Our party president has given us a clear cut road map of how the party would have to go about to win as many seats as possible from among the 17 Lok Sabha and 119 Assembly constituencies as we have more than six months left for elections,” said senior leaders, pleading anonymity.From this month-end onwards, the party leaders and activists have been advised to fan out throughout the districts and extensively propagate the Modi government’s policies like enhancing the minimum support price to crops, insurance scheme and so on, according to those privy to the meetings.

The party president wanted more people connect programmes like the Jana Chaitanya Yatra and promised to return in September to review the party programme again.Earlier, Mr. Shah was accorded a rousing welcome at the Begumpet airport where he arrived in a special aircraft from Patna.He was received by senior leaders led by Union Minister Hansraj Ahir, State BJP chief K. Laxman, Bandaru Dattatreya, G. Kishan Reddy, P. Muralidhar Rao, M. Ramachandra Rao and others.

However, the large gathering of party activists had to turn back disappointed as he accepted a garland, headgear, waved and left without any speech. With Mr. Shah’s meetings restricted to young full-time party activists in the districts and the election panel, many party leaders too were downcast.Later, he met Eenadu Editor-proprietor Ramoji Rao and badminton star Saina Nehwal as part of the outreach programme.