KARIMNAGAR: The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was once a strong force to reckon with in the north Telangana districts in general and Karimnagar district in particular, has lost its identity in the byelection to Karimnagar parliamentary constituency by losing deposit.

BJP candidate and former Union Minister Ch. Vidyasagar Rao lost his deposit in the byelection by securing only 21,144 votes. Mr. Vidyasagar Rao, who entered politics as a legislator had performed a hat trick from Metpally Assembly segment by winning in 1985, 1989 and 1994. Later, he became MP from the Karimnagar parliamentary constituency without any political alliance in 1998. In the 1999 elections, he won the Karimnagar Lok Sabha with the support of TDP. In 2004, his dream of performing a hat trick in the parliamentary constituency was shattered by TRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao.

Fading out

The BJP, which was the first party to raise the Telangana Statehood issue with the slogan of "one vote and two States'' and highlighted the importance of Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations, could not sustain the Telangana Statehood movement after 1999 elections following contradictory statements by its State and Central leaders and distanced itself with the party rank and file.

Shifting loyalties

Due to uncertainty on the party's stand on Telangana, majority of the BJP cadres were joining the TRS and other parties. The joining of BJP town president S. Ravinder Singh into the TRS had made a dent into the party activities.

The party leaders opine that at least now the BJP should strict to its policy on the formation of Telangana by introducing a private bill in Parliament.

BJP district president P. Sugunakar Rao said that ups and downs were common in any election.

"We will recoup ourselves by chalking out strategies for the ensuing general elections and retain our lost glory," he added.

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