BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh, Dinakar Lanka, was suspended from the party late on Monday evening. The letter announcing the suspension was sent on Whatsapp to him, the politician said. The decision came as a surprise to many, considering Lanka was a popular leader who often represented the party on regional as well as national news channels.
Speaking to TNM, Dinakar Lanka said that he is confident that the party would soon revoke the decision about his suspension. “I have done nothing wrong. I have represented the state unit in the party’s workshops often held for leaders. I have always worked keeping in mind the prospects of the party both in the state and at the national level,” he said.
According to sources, the suspension is a result of a brewing conspiracy against Lanka. In the morning, a circular was issued asking all leaders to take permission from Vishna Vardhan Reddy, the party’s general secretary, before appearing on any panel discussion representing the party. Later in the evening, a suspension of the leader was announced.
The bone of contention was a debate that Dinakar Lanka had been part of on ABN Andhra Jyothi channel on July 26. BJP had decided not to appear in debates about Amaravati. Speaking about what happened in that debate, Lanka said, “The debate was about State Election Commissioner Nimmagada Ramesh. Just before the debate was about to begin, the channel changed the discussion topic to Amaravati. I expressed my concern on the debate about the sudden change of topic and the anchor apologised for the last-minute change. I had already explained this to Kanna Lakshminarayana who was the party chief then and it was accepted.”
Dinakar Lanka was formerly in the TDP for several years. He rose to fame around 2017 when he started representing the TDP on TV debates and began addressing press conferences. The leader is a Chartered Accountant by qualification. Lanka’s accessible nature, knowledge about various topics and his fluency in English soon catapulted him to national media’s prime time debates. Just when he was at the peak of popularity, he decided to abandon the TDP to join the BJP.
He was welcomed into the party by JP Nadda at the party headquarters in June 2019. Ever since, he has been one of BJP’s Andhra Pradesh leaders.