Botsa all set to jump on BJP bandwagon

New Delhi: In a systematic move to get a firm footing in the southern State of Andhra Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass is learnt to have laid a trap for senior and influential community leaders from other parties to get a firm footing in the State.

As part of its 'Look South' policy, the party top brass got in touch with former Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana, a powerful Kapu leader in north coastal Andhra.

According to party sources, Botsa may soon be bidding goodbye to the grand old party to hold the saffron flag. Sources said Botsa had a detailed meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah last week.

Undoubtedly Botsa is a prize catch for the party. The formal joining of the Congress leader may happen on or just after the auspicious Sankranti or January 15. The saffron party has already roped in former minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, another prominent Kapu leader from Central Andhra, couple of weeks ago.

Several other prominent leaders of other communities like Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and U V Krishnam Raju have been already sailing with BJP. There are reports that former YSR Congress party leader Konathala Ramakrishna might soon shift loyalties to the BJP.

Another YSRC leader and Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy also dropped hints about his inclination towards the BJP by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And even former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who had quit the Congress party in protest against the bifurcation of AP, is also said to be looking up to joining the BJP.

The party already has the support of popular film actor Pavan Kalyan who weilds considerable influence among Kapu voters. His Jana Sena Party was instrumental in mobilising Kapu votes in favour of TDP-BJP alliance in the last elections.

Sources said a large number of Congress and the YSR Congress party leaders are evincing interest in joining the saffron party in the coming days. 'If it happens, the BJP will definitely become a big threat to the Telugu Desam Party in the next couple of years and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu might face the same kind of situation in 2019 elections as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackerey faced during the recent Maharashtra elections.

At present, Naidu might have silenced the BJP by offering it a very few seats in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections this time, but there is every possibility that the BJP might demand lion's share in the seats, if the alliance has to sustain,' a senior BJP leader said.

An upbeat BJP has been pulling out all stops to gain a foothold in the southern States and the party sees Andhra as a fertile ground. However, the BJP organisation has not been able to make inroads there.

After analysing the fact that the votes of Kapus got split between various political parties in the last elections, the BJP has made a calculated move to reach out to Botsa.

Sources claimed the party would get a new lease of life with a prominent Kapu face coming into the fold. The negotiations with Botsa started months ago but things became clear after the Congress leader met Shah last weekend.

It is believed that the finer points related to the move such as the new role for the Congress leader are still being worked out. It is also learnt that BS has expressed the desire to join after Sankranti.

The BJP has been making similar 'contacts' with leaders in various States where the organisation is relatively weak. These include Assam, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.