BJP bets on young aggressive MP in Telangana

BJP MP from Karimnagar Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who had warned the anti-CAA protestors with the remark "If you take stones, we will take bombs", has been appointed State President of Telangana BJP.

Kumar had during a rally in Warrangal, threatened that those opposing CAA and NRC will be sent to Pakistan in “buses without brakes”.

"If you throw stones, we will hurl bombs. If you use sticks, we will retaliate with knives. If you hurl bombs we will hit back with launchers. The war has begun. We will not spare anybody,” Kumar had said.

The 48-year-leader had served in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS. He succeeds K Laxman.

Greeting Kumar on his new role, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said the party’s roots in Telangana will be strengthened with his experience. BJP general secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh also congratulated Kumar.

Young and aggressive Kumar has been made party chief in a state where the BJP has not been able to make inroads. While TRS is the ruling party in the state, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM often hogs headlines with his rabble-rousing remarks. The firebrand leader is expected to take on both TRS and AIMIM.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had registered its best performance in Telangana, winning four Lok Sabha seats. This was in contrast to its performance in assembly polls in the state in December 2018, when it could win only one seat out of 117 with a vote share of just seven per cent. After the marginalization of Congress in Telangana, BJP has been treating it as a catchment area for further growth in South India, where barring Karnataka, it had not been able to make much impact anywhere.

The BJP also named L Murugan who is the vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste appointed as Tamil Nadu BJP president. Vijayvargia also greeted Murugan.