In a significant development that is expected to lend a new direction to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the State , MLC Somu Veerraju was on Monday appointed the party's State unit president in place of Kanna Lakshminarayana.
BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said in the organisational appointment letter that national president J.P. Nadda had appointed the outspoken MLC as the State party president with immediate effect. Mr. Veerraju's promotion follows the recent appointment of Bandi Sanjay as Telangana BJP president.
The change at the State party’s helm of affairs came just over two years after Mr. Lakshminarayana replaced the then Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu and six months of the BJP's patch-up in January 2020 with the Jana Sena Party (BJP). The leadership change has potential ramifications for the alliance (BJP-JSP) which put up a spirited fight against the YSR Congress Party government, particularly over the proposed breaking up of the Capital into executive, legislative and judicial capitals.
Mr. Lakshminarayana has played an aggressive role in cornering the Jagan Mohan Reddy government on a host of its policies but all is said to be not well within the party.
BJP had four MLAs in the Legislative Assembly when Mr. Haribabu was its president. It drew a blank in the 2019 elections under the leadership of Mr. Lakshminarayana for a whole lot of reasons.
BJP State vice - president S. Vishnuvardhan Reddy congratulated Mr. Veerraju on his elevation and expressed confidence that the party would grow from strength to strength under his command.
