Setting its eyes on the yet to be scheduled Parliamentary bye-election in Tirupati, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday opened a district office in the town. "Inaugurated BJP district office in Tirupati along with state president Somu Veerraju and other karyakartas (party workers)," Andhra Pradesh BJP co-incharge and national secretary Sunil Deodhar announced on Twitter.
Somu Veerraju said that the new party party office will be the stage to receive “innovative opportunities for public service.” Deodhar and several other leaders are camping in the temple town to wrest the Lok Sabha seat, a Scheduled Caste (SC) constituency, from the clutches of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). Aiming to endear the BJP to the local people, the party has been organising several outreach programmes on a regular basis.
Inaugurated @BJP4Andhra’s District office in Tirupati along with State President @somuveerraju Ji, @adinarayana_jmd Ji, @Anandhakola Ji, District President @sannareddy_d Ji & other karyakartas.@JPNadda @blsanthosh pic.twitter.com/WBQzeB0ksZ
— Sunil Deodhar (@Sunil_Deodhar) December 24, 2020
On Thursday, Veerraju met with a string of leaders from backward classes in Tirupati and enquired about the problems faced by their communities. He is also meeting a good number of influential locals to garner their support for the election. The Tirupati MP seat fell vacant after former MP Balli Durga Prasad’s sudden demise.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has already declared Panabaka Lakshmi as its candidate for the election, but it is not yet clear who will contest from the BJP-Jana Sena Party alliance. The ruling YSRCP is also yet to officially declare its candidate for the seat.
Earlier, speaking at a rally following an executive meeting of BJP members in the temple town, Sunil Deodhar had said that the "BJP’s first stop in Andhra Pradesh is Tirupati." Following the BJP’s victory in the Dubbaka bye-election, as well as the huge inroads in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in neighbouring Telangana, the BJP’s hopes to win in Tirupati too, and make a foray into Andhra Pradesh, have been bolstered.
Ever since the YSRCP came to power, the BJP’s politics in Andhra Pradesh have been centred on Tirupati and other temples in the state, with claims that Hindu places of worship were under attack under the Jagan Mohan Reddy government, with frequent barbs at the Chief Minister’s Christian faith.
With IANS inputs