BJP's M Raghunandan Rao demands recognition, 3 hrs later takes U-turn

M Raghunandan Rao said he deserved recognition because he was a dedicated party worker and said he could even seek other opportunities if the party did not act. Three hours later, he said he had made a casual statement that was being aired.

New Delhi: The crisis in the BJP's Telangana unit came to the fore with party MLA M Raghunandan Rao expressing displeasure at the party leadership for not giving him the due recognition Also, he raised questions on state unit president Bandi Sanjay spending party's money for advertisements during Munugode by-polls while nothing was given to him when he contested Dubbaka.

However, within three hours he made a U-turn saying he was a disciplined worker who has served the party for 10 years and claimed that some channels aired what he had spoken casually. He asked the channels to withdraw the news.

Rao said he would abide by the central leadership's decision on party president and would accept the responsibilities given by his superiors. He said he had come to Delhi to request Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to provide Rs 150 crores for construction of roads in his constituency. He said that he will once again win from Dubbaka on BJP ticket.

Earlier while speaking to reporters, Rao asked as to how Rs 100 crore was given to Bandi Sanjay to give advertisement in newspapers. "How could a man who had to sell his wife's 'mangalsutra' when he contested as an MP, spend crores of rupees for the campaign. That was party money. I too have a share in that money. Photographs of Telangana in-charges Tarun Chug and Sunil Bansal were displayed in the advertisements but these photos will not fetch votes. My or Etala Rajender or Dharmapuri Arvind or Soyam Bapurao's photographs were not displayed. The news of change of party president is true," he said.

According to Rao, his victory in Dubbaka was solely an outcome of his own efforts. "After my victory, Etala Rajender came into the BJP. But, even after spending Rs 100 crores, we lost. If the same Rs 100 crores was given to me, the state would have developed," he said.

Demanding due recognition from the party, Rao said: "I want to be given posts as state unit president, party floor leader in the Assembly or national spokesperson. I deserve a proper recognition for working for the party for 10 years. If they give it then I will be happy. If not, I will look for other opportunities. Why should I not ask for recognition when people who came six months back are asking for the post of state party president?"

Rao further rued that Union Home Minister Amit Shah did not come for campaigning in Dubbaka. "I was not given a single penny. I won because people believed that I am the hero who will defeat Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. I will win again," he said adding that the BJP candidate who contested Dubbaka seat before him got only 3,5000 votes.

Rao said that BJP national president JP Nadda was unaware that the post of floor leader in Assembly was vacant. He said that when he brought the issue to Nadda's notice, the latter asked about it but did not take any measures. He said that he would complaint to Nadda and PM Narendra Modi if he did not get any recognition.

"My caste may be my weakness when it comes to legislative party posts. BJP has a floor leader in Nizamabad Corporation, but the 48-member Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) does not have a floor leader," he added.