Laxman’s elevation to BJP parliamentary board

Laxman is the first BJP leader from Telangana to be appointed in the parliamentary board of the party after the formation of the state in 2014 and is the only Telugu leader in the 11-member board.

The only other leader from the region who made it to the board was late Bangaru Laxman, but it was in the capacity of the BJP national president in 2000-01. The other Telugu man who was elevated to the board in the past was M Venkaiah Naidu, but he is from Andhra Pradesh.

Hailing from Munnuru Kapu caste, an OBC community in Telangana, Laxman has also been the national president of BJP OBC Morcha since September 2020. The 66-year-old leader, who had been the president of BJP’s Telangana unit between 2016 and 2020, was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

A two-time MLA from Musheerabad assembly constituency in Hyderabad, Laxman is a low-profile and soft-spoken leader of the BJP, compared to his successor Bandi Sanjay, who is more aggressive and vocal. The party has not achieved any successes when he was at the helm in Telangana.

In fact, the party lost deposits in 103 out of 119 assembly seats in the December 2018 assembly elections and won only one seat from Hyderabad. Laxman himself lost the seat from Musheerabad.

However, the party bounced back in 2019 general elections and won four Lok Sabha seats – Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Secunderabad, but that is largely due to Narendra Modi wave across the country, rather than Laxman’s leadership abilities.

Yet, the BJP top leadership preferred to elevate him to the Rajya Sabha and now to the parliamentary board. “It indicates that the party is looking for a prominent face to attract the OBCs in the state, who account for nearly 50 per cent of the total electorate. Since Laxman commands respect among the OBCs, the national leadership might have decided to elevate him,” political analyst Ramakrishna Sangem said.

The BJP has been witnessing a turnaround in its fortunes in Telangana after its impressive show in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in December 2020 and the back-to-back victories in the by-elections in Dubbak (November 2020) and Huzurabad (November 2021) assembly constituencies.

Since then, the BJP, which has sensed the chance of wresting power from Telangana Rashtra Samithi led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in 2023 assembly elections, has been putting up an aggressive posture in the state.

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay has been undertaking his padayatra in phases and all the top national leaders including national president J P Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and a host of Union ministers have been regularly addressing public rallies in the state.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Telangana thrice in 2022, sending a strong message to the party cadre. The BJP leadership’s decision to host its national executive meeting in Hyderabad is a clear indication to its intentions to conquer Telangana and the message was loud and clear at the public meeting addressed by Modi at the end of the party’s national executive council meeting.

The BJP is now aiming at winning the by-election to Munugode assembly seat, necessitated by the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, who will be joining the BJP on August 21 at a rally to be addressed by Amit Shah.

Against this backdrop, the elevation of Laxman to the BJP parliamentary board will give a big boost to the party. “It will definitely make an impact on the party’s prospects not only in the Munugode bypoll but also in the next year’s assembly elections,” Sangem said.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Laxman said his appointment to the BJP parliamentary board was a recognition to an ordinary party worker. “Very soon, the state is going to witness major political developments and the BJP is sure to form the double-engine sarkar in the next year’s elections,” he said.