Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday took a sharp and sarcastic swipe at the Congress high command over its sudden summons to senior state leaders, including the Pradesh Congress Committee chief.
“Was the meeting called to pull up state leaders for not sending the ‘appropriate share’ to 10 Janpath? Or was it finally about asking why the Congress is steadily losing its grip on the electorate?” quipped BJP Chief Spokesperson and Media In-Charge N.V. Subash.
While terming it an “internal matter” of the Congress, Subash said the timing of the summons was too convenient to ignore. The meeting comes on the heels of the recently concluded municipal polls, where the ruling Congress government under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy managed to scrape past the halfway mark in just over 50 percent of civic bodies.
“For a party that claims to enjoy overwhelming public support, barely crossing the 50 percent mark is hardly a victory parade. It looks more like a damage-control exercise,” Subash remarked.
He pointed out that the BJP has not only improved its footprint across urban local bodies but has also performed a shade better than the principal opposition, the BRS. “The people are clearly looking beyond recycled promises and familiar faces. They are seeking governance, accountability and leadership,” he said.
Subash further noted that media reports already indicate internal rumblings within the Congress. “The Congress ecosystem is famous for its ‘everything is fine’ public posture, while the knives are out behind closed doors. We have seen this movie before,” he said, drawing parallels with the factional power struggles that frequently surface in Congress-ruled states such as Karnataka.
“If history is any guide, such sudden summons from the high command rarely mean congratulations. They usually signal dissatisfaction, power tussles, or—more urgently—fund collection drives ahead of elections,” Subash added with a grin.
He also questioned whether the real agenda of the meeting was linked to the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled in several states later this year, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam.
“Perhaps the high command is assessing how much each state unit can contribute to the grand electoral kitty. After all, elections do not run on rhetoric alone,” he said pointedly.
Reiterating the BJP’s growing momentum, Subash endorsed the view of the party’s state leadership that the BJP is fast emerging as the principal challenger to the Congress in the state. “The regional outfit BRS is steadily losing relevance. When there are no real regional issues left to exploit, identity politics alone cannot sustain a party,” he observed.
“The municipal results have sent a clear message. The electorate is no longer swayed by dynastic entitlement or high-command culture. They are rewarding performance and credibility,” Subash said.
Concluding on a sardonic note, he remarked, “If the Congress high command meeting was indeed about introspection, we wish them the best. But if it was about tightening the purse strings or settling internal scorecards, then perhaps the public will soon see the cracks widen further.”
The BJP, he asserted, will continue to strengthen its grassroots presence and present itself as a credible, stable and transparent alternative to what he described as a “high-command-driven, election-season management company masquerading as a political party.”
