Amit Shah: While the Southern Zonal Council meeting ended up as a regular non-committal meeting by the Union government with Chief Ministers from Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala giving it a skip; the Union home minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) second most powerful leader, Amit Shah used the opportunity to infuse fresh energy and enthusiasm among Andhra Pardesh BJP leaders. He sensed opportunity for their party in 2024 assembly elections and wanted his party men to prepare for that!
As part of BJP’s goal to hit at ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Amit Shah called upon his party leaders to join the protest of Amaravati farmers and asked them to see that justice is meted to the unfortunate people. This clearly indicates that BJP is taking a strong stand against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his government, and the move to support Amaravati farmers will be the first step in that direction.
Interesting, Amit Shah has not spoken about any alliance parties and further alliances. Meanwhile opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) camp was very euphemistic about the senior BJP leader hinting at probable patch up between TDP and BJP. But with the Union home minister being tight-lipped on the issue, TDP leaders were disappointed. But the optimists looked at the issue in different perspective, they said that Amit Shah did not rule out alliances in the future!
Amit shah questioned why the state BJP did not resist the YSRCP government’s decision to form three capitals. He pointed out that the AP BJP unit was lagging behind in projecting the party as an alternative to the ruling YSRCP. He called upon the BJP leaders to get the party to power in the 2024 assembly elections.
BJP leaders including the party state chief Somu Veerraju, national secretary Sunil Deodhar, national executive committee member Kanna Lakshminarayana, national general secretary Daggubati Purandeswari and other senior leaders attended the meeting with Amit Shah in Tirupati.