BJP's Telangana chief set to launch padyatra

Hyderabad, Aug 28 : BJP's Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay is all set to launch his 'padayatra' on Saturday from Bhagyalaxmi temple abutting historic Charminar here.

Union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy will formally inaugurate the walkathon named Praja Sangrama Yatra, at 9.30 a.m.

BJP national general secretary in charge for Telangana, Tarun Chugh, BJP OBC morcha national president Dr K Laxman, party's national vice president DK Aruna and other leaders will also be present at the launch.

Sanjay, also a member of Parliament, has announced that his walkathon is aimed at highlighting the failures of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government during the last seven years and to achieve what he calls 'democratic Telangana'.

The saffron party plans the padyatra in four phases till the next Assembly elections in 2023. The first phase being launched on Saturday will cover 750 km across erstwhile districts of Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nizamabad and Karimnagar.

The padyatra will conclude on October 2 at Huzurabad, where by-elections are due.

The padyatra was earlier postponed twice. It was originally scheduled to start on August 9 but was postponed to August 24 due to the Parliament session. It was pushed again to August 28 due to death of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh and the three-day mourning.

During the padyatra, Sanjay will interact with people to know their problems and will also receive their representations. He will also highlight various schemes being implemented by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

The BJP leader will also explain the vision of the party and the schemes to be implemented if it is voted to power in the next elections.

The padyatra will be significant in view of ensuing by-election to Huzurabad Assembly constituency. The seat fell vacant following resignation of Eatala Rajender, who also quit the ruling TRS after being dropped from the state Cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in May.

Rajender, who has joined BJP, will be contesting the by-polls as the candidate of the saffron party.

BJP will be going all out to win the by-poll as the outcome is expected to set the tone for 2023 polls.

The party will also be looking to bounce back after the defeat in Legislative Council polls and by-election to Nagarjuna Sagar constituency.

Meanwhile, TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao took potshots at BJP's padyatra. He said though Sanjay's name carries the word Bandi (vehicle), he will be walking because there has been steep hike in petrol price.

KTR also remarked that Bandi Sanjay may be undertaking padyatra to identify some more government assets which the BJP government at the Centre can sell away. "After startup India, standup India, the BJP government has launched becho (sell) India programme," he said.

The TRS leader said the BJP leader during his padyatra should also explain to people why BJP government failed to deposit Rs15 lakh each in the bank accounts of citizens as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"He should also explain what the BJP government has done for Telangana during last seven years," he said.