Union Minister Kishan Reddy formally took over as the president of the Telangana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, July 21 at the party office in Nampally, Hyderabad. Outgoing Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay marked the occasion by taking a dig at the ruling Bharata Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress with his comments on Charminar.
Sanjay took a jab at the parties in Telangana and claimed that no party has held a meeting in Old City without "offering namaz" at Charminar, indirectly meaning to say other parties indulge in Muslim appeasement for votes. “Only BJP has been brave enough to do so. Those who think Old city is theirs, I want to tell them that it is ours,” he said. He also said that leaders of Congress and BRS have started to refer to Charminar as Bhagyalaxmi owing to BJP’s efforts
It is worth noting that the monument has been a hotbed of controversy since the construction of the Bhagyalaxmi temple that was built in the southeast pillar of the Charminar, that is Hyderabad's foundational monument. The temple is where BJP leaders have begun heading to for any major political occasion in recent times.
Prior to the ceremony, Kishan Reddy along with other party leaders visited the Bhagyalakshmi temple in Charminar and Kanaka Durga temple in Basheerbagh. He later paid tributes to Jyotirao Phule and BR Ambedkar after paying a visit to the Martyrs' Memorial site.
Adding to the criticism against non-BJP parties in Telangana, Kishan Reddy said, “Even if thousands of KCRs, Owaisis and Rahul Gandhis emerge, they cannot dismantle the power of BJP and PM Modi. Congress and the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are technically the same. This is the land where the Razakars were driven out and support for PM Modi and the BJP is growing by the day,” he said.
Invoking the Telangana movement, Reddy remarked that 1200 students sacrificed themselves after which Telangana went into the hands of the Kalvakuntla family who had done nothing. Calling KCR’s behaviour ‘Nizam like’, he also criticised the state government for “doing nothing for tribals and Dalits” and “promising KG to PG education, double bedroom housing” and not delivering. He also claimed that if BJP came to power, tribals would get full reservation and accused CM KCR of promoting religious reservation only to appease AIMIM.
Bandi Sanjay also addressed the party workers at the ceremony and appealed to let incoming president Kishan Reddy work peacefully. The MP was directing the message to his dissenters in the Party. He added saying, “Stop going to Delhi to complain about the leaders. The party activists are important for the state unit as they joined the party believing in their leaders.”
He added, “I am glad to have worked with the support of all party activists and several senior leaders including,the Prime Minister, Amit Shah, JP Nadda.” He appealed to the activists to continue to work for the people and party under leadership of the new party president and to establish BJP government in the coming assembly elections
Meanwhile,Kishan Reddy also wrote a letter to the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, claiming that the people of Telangana were disappointed by the inefficient governance. "People have fought for and achieved Telangana state. You have made several promises during the 2014 and 2018 election campaigns, but forgot to implement them." The minister alleged that the government failed to provide legal land rights to tribals and employment opportunities for the youth. He alleged that the CM has failed to implement Dalit Bandhu scheme, housing for the poor and other schemes.