No representation for Telangana or AP in 27-member BJP Election Manifesto Committee

The party believed that it had the potential to emerge as a challenger to the ruling Congress in Telangana by occupying the space that the BRS was vacating.

Still, the BJP did not bother to include anyone from Telangana in the manifesto committee.

AP’s exclusion from the list may not have come as a surprise, as the party’s stakes are very limited. Three regional parties—YRCP, Telugu Desam, and Jana Sena—are firmly entrenched on its soil.

As the BJP is raring to score a hat-trick at the national level, the party has prioritised releasing a manifesto that would appeal to all sections of the population.

It has already asked its state units to send input on what the people want. Accordingly, the leaders at the state level collected opinions from a cross-section of people and sent them to Delhi.

With no one from AP or Telangana in the manifesto committee, BJP’s rivals think the national leadership has slammed the state unit.

BRS leader Manne Krishank posted on X: “Does Delhi BJP think no Telangana BJP leader has to be in the manifesto committee?”

Also read: Lack of representation

BJP has its reasons

BJP sources, however, said the composition of the election manifesto is not based on the principle that every state should have representation.

The party has a logic for inducting or non-inducting leaders from states. It may think a particular state offers more input on certain key issues. Its national leadership might also want input from sources other than state leaders.

The party collates all input from all these sources and presents it to the manifesto committee, which will decide what should be in the manifesto and what should not.

A BJP source said the committee’s recommendation will undergo vetting at various levels before getting the party leadership’s approval.

The source pointed out that Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and leaders DK Aruna, Eatala Rajender, and K Laxman would also contribute ideas to the party’s effort to produce the best manifesto possible.

When contacted, BJP spokesperson NV Subhash said that the composition of the manifesto committee does not follow the rule that each state should have representation.

Exclusion of members from, say, Andhra or Telangana does not mean that the opinions of these leaders are not welcome, he said.

He added that the party’s Telangana unit has already set up boxes at district headquarters across the state to collect people’s opinions on various issues.

Telangana inputs will arrive in Delhi on Sunday. According to Subhash, who was in Delhi on Saturday, some states have already sent them, and the party is going through them.