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The huge number of supporters who turned up at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday has given hope to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership that the party could play a decisive role in the Telangana region.
Political analysts, however, believe a huge gathering alone doesn’t indicate political dividends for the party.
The BJP’s Andhra Pradesh unit collected about Rs 13 lakh from those present at the meeting on Sunday. The state unit has already deposited Rs 10 lakh for relief work in Uttarakhand. It is expected party’s the state leadership would deposit another Rs 3 lakh in the coming days.
“Most people who came for the public meeting were from Hyderabad and the region of Telangana, because there is a complete bandh in Seemandhra and many people were unable to attend the meeting from these areas. The capacity of the stadium is about 70,000; another 40,000-50,000 people were standing outside the venue on roads and the Nizam College ground, where large screens had been put up for the supporters of Narendra Modi,” said G Krishan Reddy, BJP president for Andhra Pradesh.
He added while the party had set a target of collecting Rs 5 lakh from supporters for relief work in Uttarakhand, many of those who attended the meeting had deposited Rs 100 and Rs 1,000 each. “A group deposited a cheque of Rs 1 lakh for the Uttarakhand tragedy,” he said.
Senior BJP leaders from the state were upbeat about the meeting. They believe the party could play a decisive role in elections in Telangana. The party leadership argues many parties, including the Telugu Desam Party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Congress, would be forced to take note of the support people showed for Modi. “It is evident now. BJP will play a decisive role in the Telangana region. The support expressed by the people was far better that the party had expected. Though it is too early to suggest it will lead to electoral gains, BJP will be a force in the Telangana region this time,” said BJP general secretary Muralidhar Rao, who was involved in organising the meeting.
However, political analysts argue the presence of a huge crowd doesn’t indicate electoral gains for the party. They add the BJP not only lacks credible leadership in the state, but also credible candidates to win elections in the Assembly, as well as in the Lok Sabha elections.
“The turnout for the public meeting was phenomenal, but the message from the public meeting was lukewarm. The message given by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP didn’t enthuse the people so much. People expected Modi to say something path-breaking, but the message was neither significant nor emphatic,” said Parakala Prabhakar, a political analyst who follows Andhra Pradesh politics.
He said during the National Democratic Alliance regime, when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee held public meetings in Andhra Pradesh, about 1,00,000 people would attend those. However, BJP candidates only managed to secure 5,000 votes in the election. “If the BJP contests elections in Andhra Pradesh on its own, the chances of getting political dividends are unlikely. But if the party manages to tie up with a significant party in the state, both the BJP and the regional party would benefit from the presence of Narendra Modi in the state; the two parties will be able to perform better,” he added.
