· Bandi Sanjay has the ability to defeat Revanth
· His leadership assures the chances of winning double the number of wards
· Ability to get votes even in areas where the opponents are strong
· A leader who can strongly advance Hindutva
· Ability to take the party forward despite internal differences
· A leader who has strongly denounced the failures of the Congress
· Even opponents must accept his ability
· The ingenuity of shaping the BJP as an alternative to the Congress
· Bandi Sanjay is the right answer to Revanth’s aggression
· The courage to stop the speed of the Congress
· Bandi Sanjay has the ability to be a navigator for the state BJP
HYDERABAD, NETIDHATHRI:
If anyone asks who the firebrand leader of the BJP is in Telangana right now, the immediate answer that comes is Bandi Sanjay! He has the ability to prevent his opponents from making sensational allegations. He is a capable leader who can penetrate into the areas win over voters where the opponents have strong hold. In the current Karimnagar Corporation elections, the credit for bringing Kashmirgadda, which is known to be a strong hold for AIMIM, to the BJP’s account, goes to Bandi Sanjay! Bandi Sanjay, who started his career as an RSS/BJP activist, was elected as the Karimnagar Municipal Corporator three times. In particular, the credit for mobilizing activists with an RSS/BJP background and leading them forward in a way that effectively confronted the BRS and Congress parties goes to Bandi Sanjay. The fact that the BJP won 30 out of the 66 seats in Karimnagar Corporation is due to Bandi Sanjay. Moreover, the leadership that won a majority with the help of independents and hoisted the saffron flag for the first time on Karimnagar Corporation is also due to Bandi Sanjay! His aggressive and confident speeches, in which he said that the Centre has so far spent Rs. 1500 crores on infrastructure development in Karimnagar and that if the BJP wins, he will be responsible for bringing another Rs. 500 crores to the corporation, have resonated well with the people. We do not see leaders of other parties giving such bold promises.
In fact, when Bandi Sanjay was the BJP state president, he was able to increase the party’s vote share from 7% earlier to 33%, which is a testament to his leadership skills. In exactly the same way, Annamalai was able to significantly increase the BJP’s vote share in Tamil Nadu with his eloquent speeches. These two leaders are similar in terms of aggression and leadership qualities. Meanwhile, with the enthusiasm brought by his victory in the Karimnagar Corporation, he instilled more enthusiasm in the BJP cadre by announcing that he would strengthen the saffron party in the GHCMC elections this time as well. It is noteworthy that he made this announcement in the context of the current Congress government dividing the GHCMC into three corporations, namely… Hyderabad, Cyberabad (Sherlingampalli), and Malkajgiri. There is no doubt that Bandi Sanjay played a key role in BJP emerging as the largest party in the Karimnagar Corporation elections this time. Bandi Sanjay’s leadership style is different from the rest of the leaders. His main strategy is to make aggressive speeches that impress the people and give priority to those who have trusted the party from the beginning. The main reason why almost 80% of the tickets in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation elections went to those who have always been working in the party is because of Bandi Sanjay’s intervention! This time, “Bandi” campaigned in a completely different way in the urban local body elections. He was able to take the details of the funds provided by the Center to cities and towns and the agenda of Prime Minister Modi to the people. His success in making them understand, especially in his own unique style, made the party the largest party in the two corporations for the first time.
Despite showing strength in the urban local body elections, the party has a long way to go to strengthen itself, as it came in third place (10.1% wards) after the Congress (52% wards) and the BRS (27% wards). After Bandi Sanjay, G. Kishan Reddy served as the party president for the state, while N. Ramachandra Rao is currently continuing. In fact, Bandi Sanjay is considered a historical mistake to step down from the party president’s post. It must be said that his aggressive style has given the party a run. The successes achieved in Karimnagar and Nizamabad are an example of how he has put the party in a better position than before in the areas he represents. Under his guidance, the current party state president N. Ramachandra Rao worked, and for the first time in Karimnagar, party candidates won in 30 divisions. It is noteworthy that he, who is currently the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, has made it clear that he is not in the race for the post of state president and will continue to perform his duties as a Union Minister. Many leaders are internally expressing the opinion that if he had been the party president during the 2023 assembly elections, the party situation would have been different. Meanwhile, differences continue to exist between those who have been working in the party for a long time and the leaders who have recently joined the party. In particular, the situation between Bandi Sanjay and Etela Rajender is still a mess! The differences between the two flared up again during the party’s preparations for the local panchayat elections held in 2025. It is known that even when Bandi Sanjay was the party president, their friendship was like salt and fire. In this context, there is no lack of truth in the argument of some who are saying that if Bandi Sanjay is given the reins of the state party, the differences between the two will worsen and the party will suffer! At that time, the then BJP film star Vijayashanti created a sensation when she alleged that Bandi Sanjay was removed from the party president’s post only because of a secret agreement reached with the BRS. The implication of her words is that she did this because he had become an embarrassment to the ruling BRS. To rectify these developments, the party leadership appointed N. Ramachandra Rao as the president as part of the party’s stabilization process. Because he is not only an undisputed enemy in the party, but also a leader with strong ties to the RSS!
There is an opinion that firebrand Bandi Sanjay is the only right leader to stop Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s aggressive behavior. There is a clear view among the party cadres in these areas that the victory in the 2020 GHCMC elections (winning 48 seats) and the recent Karimnagar Municipal Corporation elections (30 divisions) was possible only because of Bandi Sanjay’s key role. The party cadre believes that the padayatra organized by Bandi Sanjay in the past under the name of “Praja Sangrama Yatra” shook the then BRS government, and now such a yatra is necessary to damage the Congress. There is a clear view among the local leaders that the momentum that suddenly cooled in removing him from office before the 2023 assembly elections has come back with this Praja Sangrama Yatra. The consensus among them is that Bandi Sanjay is the only one capable of doing that in every way. Meanwhile, the party high command is currently continuing Bandi Sanjay as a Union Minister and also as National General Secretary, and is acting strategically to ensure that his influence on state politics continues. Currently, as per the orders of the high command, he is fully supporting state president N. Ramachandra Rao. Here is another thing to remember. In the 2023 assembly elections, the party managed to win only eight assembly seats despite getting 14% more votes than before. It is the clear opinion of leaders at various levels that if Bandi Sanjay had been there, who could have effectively waged street battles, the party’s growth would have been different.
The high command also had a reason for removing Bandi Sanjay. At that time, in the context of the ongoing feud between the Bandi vs. Etela vs. Dharmapuri Arvind camps, the party handed over the reins of the state to G. Kishan Reddy as part of the process of neutralizing this struggle. There is a reason for this too. “In the current situation, the party is losing money because of an aggressive leader like Bandi Sanjay. Because unlike his aggression, the people of some parts of the state will only accept a liberal leader,” some leaders say, adding that the high command’s disdain for Kishan Reddy’s appointment is also a reason for his appointment. The central leadership reacted immediately to this false report and removed Bandi Sanjay from the post of president, but knowing the value of his leadership, it promoted him to the post of national general secretary and made him a minister of state.
· It is noteworthy that the BJP has been registering a steady growth in the state since 2018. For example, in the 2018 assembly elections, the party’s vote share in the state was 7.1%, but by the 2023 assembly elections, it had almost doubled to 13.9%. During this time, it had increased from one seat in the assembly to eight seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it won 8 out of the total 17 MP seats in the state. While its vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 19.5%, it had almost doubled to 35.1% by 2024. The party, which had shown such progress between the two elections, performed abysmally in the 2026 local elections, securing only 14% of the votes. This means that it lost 21% of the votes compared to the last Lok Sabha elections. It is noteworthy that the party, which won 330 wards with about 13% of the votes in the 2020 local elections, is now winning 336 wards with 14% of the votes. This means that if the growth of 2024 had continued, it would have won more than double the number of wards in this election. It is also clear from the above analysis that this would have been possible only if Bandi Sanjay Dookud was present.
The opinion expressed internally in the party is that Bandi Sanjay could have acted as a counter to Revanth Dookud, and as a result, he could have turned these municipal elections into a referendum on Congress rule and effectively prevented the victory of Congress in 70 municipalities. Moreover, one analysis is that Bandi Sanjay could have greatly reduced the influence of Congress. Another group argues that he also has disadvantages here. Especially the Etela Rajender faction, by working against the party in the areas where they have influence, tried to damage the reputation of Bandi Sanjay, which led to suicidal politics. Secondly, this faction argues that in the context of Bandi Sanjay aggressively taking forward Hindutva, Congress, BRS and AIMIM are trying to show the BJP as a sham. Leaders like Etela Rajender within the party are also arguing that if Hindutva is taken forward in this way, it will be like promoting communalism! Each of these arguments has its own strength and each has its own weakness. But everyone does not disagree on one point. That is, Bandi Sanjay’s style of street fighting is in no way inferior to the style of fighting followed by Revanth Reddy! His recent direct challenge to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on the issue of Telangana development and allocation of central government funds has put him ahead among the opposition leaders. Not only did he want to call himself a BC leader, but he also directly challenged the Congress and BRS to bring BC leaders forward if they dared! He put the Congress and BRS in a tight spot by announcing that if the BJP wins, it will make a BC leader (57% BCs) the Chief Minister. Considering these factors, the majority of leaders are of the opinion that only Bandi Sanjay can face Revanth head-on in the upcoming assembly elections. He has already turned the northern Telangana districts of Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad into powerhouses for the party. The party is still weak in southern and rural Telangana. The party has not yet opened its account in 43 municipalities in these areas. The BRS vote share in these areas is 28.7%. The reason for this surge is that most of the votes that went to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are now in the BRS’ account! Now, under the leadership of Bandi Sanjay, BJP has pushed BRS back in most of the urban corporations and has reached the second position. However, it is noteworthy that BRS still maintains its strength in rural and municipal areas across the state and is in the second position. There is no doubt that only Bandi Sanjay has the ability to bridge this gap.