BJP eyes reorganisation of state unit in Telangana after poll debacle

Hyderabad: The BJP on Tuesday admitted that the poll debacle in Telangana was "colossal, massive and historic" for the party and indicated that a full-scale reorganisation of the state unit might be on the cards.

The BJP is in an introspective mode, the Telangana unit's chief spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao said. From a tally of five seats after the 2014 elections, the party was now reduced to just a single MLA in the 119-member House.

"We are trying to assess the massive loss which is quite historic going from 1984 to where we are today," Rao told PTI.

"And trying to do some formal and informal reviews within the organisation to understand what went wrong in the run up to 2018 (Assembly election) since 2014".

The BJP, he said, recognises the need for a full-scale reorganisation, reengineering the party to be election-ready for 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the process is on the anvil.

And there is national BJP thinking on these lines to ensure that the party gets ready equipped and become resourceful by 2019 elections, Rao said.

According to him, the performance of the party in the December seven Assembly election in Telangana is a collective failure. "It's a colossal loss which we do not wish to hide."

"And the reasons for the same both politically, organisationally leadership-wise and in terms of planning and strategising, all these areas will be reviewed and there is a

possibility of formal review over this week-end," he added.

On what went wrong for the BJP at the hustings, Rao said there was no discussion on development, and "failure" of KCR (K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti) government in delivering poll promises.

"What happened actually was the agenda driven by KCR pitting himself against (TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) N Chandrababu Naidu. So, only discussion that happened in this election was "is it Chandrababu Naidu or KCR?"

"KCR was politically savvy and over-smart in completely hijacking the agenda of the elections to pit Naidu against him, thereby arouse sentiments, sympathy and insecure feelings amongst people of Telangana and voters which like a wave protected his party," he said.

TRS won 88 seats in the Assembly elections, pushing the Congress to a distant second with 19 seats while the TDP bagged just two.

The Congress had forged a pre-poll alliance with the TDP, the Telangana Jana Samiti and the Communist Party of India but the grouping came a cropper in the election.