Race begins for BJP city president's post

HYDERABAD: As the date for organisational elections of the BJP city unit draws closer, the party is looking for a new face as the city president with a view to strengthening its electoral base for the forthcoming assembly elections. Though senior party leaders maintain that the city president post would be finalised unanimously, intense competition is on in the party.
The main contenders for the post are Maharajganj legislator Premsingh Rathore, party city vice-presidents L Venkata Reddy and Santha Kumar, besides its general secretary Venkata Ramani.The party is weighing various options before finalising the name as the city president would play a pivotal role in the coming assembly elections, a senior functionary said.
Moreover, the BJP city unit has to strengthen its base to face its arch rival Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), whose vote bank has spread evenly to its benefit post delimitation exercise, he remarked.
Junior railway minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Musheerabad MLA K Laxman and other legislators, besides the incumbent president Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, would play a significant role in the selection the city president. According to a senior leader, a section of the party feels that Premsingh Rathore would get a chance in view his sound financial background and his clout among the members of business community.
Another section feels that the party may opt for Venkata Ramani as he had been with the party for a long time and is closely associated with the Sangh Parivar.
The organisational elections for the city booth committees will start on April and the divisional elections will be held on May 4. The divisional committee representatives will elect the city president on May 11 if the nominations for the post are more than one. The last date for receiving the nomination papers is May 10.