Published Jul 08, 2025 | 6:00 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 08, 2025 | 6:00 PM
File photo of N Ramachander Rao. (X)
Synopsis: For the Telangana BJP, the appointment of N Ramachander Rao comes at a critical juncture. With internal dissent simmering and voter confidence waning after the 2023 debacle, Rao faces the uphill task of uniting a divided party, instilling renewed confidence in a demoralised cadre, and articulating a Telangana-specific vision to effectively take on the entrenched Congress and BRS – or risk irrelevance.
Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national leadership announced former MLC and staunch RSS ideologue N Ramchander Rao as the new president of its Telangana unit on 30 June, there have been fast-paced developments within the party.
Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh resigned from the party in protest, while others who were in the race for the post have found it difficult to accept Rao’s appointment, even if remaining silent for the moment.
Nevertheless, Rao’s appointment is significant for the BJP as it hopes to consolidate its position in a state where the Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) remain entrenched.
Rao faces the unenviable task of having to manage sporadic internal dissent, while energising the cadre in time for the fast-approaching local body polls, the Jubilee Hills bypoll, and in the long term, the 2028 Assembly elections.
Rao brings a certain pedigree, organisational experience, and ideological clarity to the table. But converting that into electoral success will demand a careful balancing act.
To begin with, Rao must elevate the party’s stature and instil confidence among the cadre that the BJP remains a force to be reckoned with in Telangana.
The cadres continue to feel that the party frittered away a golden opportunity to make its presence felt with a strong tally of seats in the Assembly elections.
They were disappointed that the party only managed eight seats. Doubts have now emerged about its ability to bounce back and take on the ruling Congress and the BRS head-on.
A lawyer by profession and a dyed-in-the-wool RSS hand, Rao is widely seen as a consensus candidate, acceptable to various factions within the party.
Factionalism, once alien to a party known for its discipline, has taken root in the last three years and is now one of the most pressing challenges Rao must confront.
Senior leaders – including Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, MP Arvind, and former MLAs turned MPs Raghunandan Rao and Eatala Rajender – keep stepping on one another’s toes.
The rift between Eatala and Sanjay Kumar was especially pronounced ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, with Eatala eyeing the state president’s post.
When Sanjay was eased out ahead of the polls, the party installed Kishan Reddy – for reasons best known to itself.
A divided house that the party had remained for the last few years could not inspire much confidence in the cadres.
Though national leaders campaigned, the lack of faith in the party’s ability to rise to the challenge of taking on the BRS during the elections led the cadres to lose confidence.
Rao’s priority now will be to turbo-charge the demoralised party workers and rebuild booth-level strength in districts where the party’s presence has dwindled.
With the Congress now in power and aggressively pushing welfare schemes, and the BRS attempting to stage a comeback, the BJP risks getting squeezed out unless it regains momentum.
So far, it has struggled to articulate a Telangana-centric narrative that resonates with voters. It has experimented with everything from nationalist rhetoric, Hindutva posturing, and anti-KCR messaging, but has yet to present a clear vision for the state’s development.
In contrast, the Congress, under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, has managed to strike a chord with the youth by focusing on job creation and addressing farmers’ welfare.
To take on the Congress effectively, the BJP will need to develop a narrative of its own – a coherent Telangana policy – instead of relying solely on nationalist or Hindutva themes.
Rao enjoys the confidence of the BJP’s central leadership, particularly Union Home Minister Amit Shah. But he will have to deliver on their expectations to ensure that their support remains firm.
Telangana is viewed as a crucial growth state for the BJP in South India. The central leadership is likely to expect not just a stronger performance in the 2028 Assembly elections, but also gains in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
Historically, the BJP’s strength in Telangana has largely been concentrated in urban pockets – Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, and Nizamabad.
Yet, in the 2023 Assembly elections, the party witnessed an erosion of support even in these areas, particularly among middle-class voters worried about unemployment, rising prices, and the lack of visible local leadership.
Rebuilding the BJP’s image in these bases of support – especially Hyderabad, where the AIMIM continues to dominate amid an expanding Congress – will require consistent outreach, grooming of local leadership, and visible activism around civic and economic issues.
Rao has taken charge at a time when the Congress has returned to power with a clear majority in the Assembly. He must sharpen the BJP’s political edge as Chief Minister Revanth Reddy adopts a combative posture against both the BRS and BJP.
At the same time, Rao will have to stay alert to the BRS’s potential resurgence. Under KCR, the party is only down, not out. It lost power in the recent elections by a slim margin of just two percent in vote share.
Unless the BJP moves swiftly to establish a compelling regional narrative and organisational presence, it risks further marginalisation in Telangana politics.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
