BJP outreaches into the grassroots
Bhupalapalli district and assembly constituency BJP Incharge Galla Satyanarayana shared his experiences with the Prime Post in the five years tenure of party Khammam district president.
Prime Post (PP): What was your five-year experience as BJP Khammam district president? Were you satisfied with your work during that time?
Satyanarayana: I worked five years as president of the Bharatiya Janata Party‘s Khammam district unit. The BJP’s membership was just 23,000 when I took over the post in November 2019, and it reached 1.20 lakh by January 2024 (assuming 2015 was a typo). BJP MP candidate for Khammam, Vinoda Rao Tandra, obtained 1.20 lakh votes in the 2024 general elections.
PP: BJP never had a firebrand leader in Khammam district, and the leaders before you were softer in nature. How many cases were charged against you during that time?
Satyanarayana: More than 45 criminal cases were filed against me on the charges of participating in various agitation programs. A serious criminal case was charged against me when I forcibly unlocked the gates of the Khammam Agriculture Market Committee in protest against its shifting to another place. Hundreds of farmers and traders took part in it.
PP: What are your best memories of your working tenure as Khammam district BJP president?
Satyanarayana: Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a public meeting in Khammam before the 2024 general elections. As many as one lakh people attended the meeting, and it was the first-ever massive public meeting of the BJP in Khammam. BRS and Congress were surprised by the massive program. It was a memorable experience for me.
PP: How is your association with Union Minister Bandi Sanjay, as you were appointed as Khammam district president during his tenure as state president?
Satyanarayana: As BJP Telangana state president, Bandi Sanjay came to Khammam fifteen times after I took over as BJP district president and participated in various agitation programs. The BJP reached the grassroots during that time.
PP: You faced stress during the suicide case of BJP activist Sai Ganesh? What happened then?
Satyanarayana: About four central ministers, including G. Kishan Reddy, B.L. Varma, and Prathima Bhoumik, took part in different programs organized by the BJP in Khammam. In the suicide episode of BJP activist Sai Ganesh, the party organized a protest rally, and Union Minister Kishan Reddy participated. Party national president J.P. Nadda made a video call regarding the issue. Sai Ganesh, who consumed pesticide at the police station after continuous police harassment over establishing a BJP memorial structure, was shifted to a government hospital by the police. I took the initiative to shift him to a hospital in Hyderabad for better treatment. Sai died while undergoing treatment.
PP: What is the dispute between you and a construction company which was laying the road between Amaravati to Nagpur?
Satyanarayana: The private company took up illegal mining in Khammam district, and I brought the issue to the notice of higher officials. The officials fined the company Rs. 7 crore for the illegal mining. The present government facilitated the company to pay the amount in installments and allotted a soil mine in Khammam district to it.
PP: As BJP In-charge of Bhupalapalli district, what is your goal there? Will the party gain in the next assembly elections?
Satyanarayana: BJP candidate Keerthi Reddy secured 14,500 votes in the Bhupalapally assembly constituency. I monitor the constituency by visiting there at regular intervals. There is a hope that the BJP will win the next assembly elections from Bhupalapalli.
Editor, Prime Post
Ravindra Seshu Amaravadi, is a senior journalist with 38 years of experience in Telugu, English news papers and electronic media. He worked in Udayam as a sub-editor and reporter. Later, he was associated with Andhra Pradesh Times, Gemini news, Deccan Chronicle, HMTV and The Hans India. Earlier, he was involved in the research work of All India Kisan Sabha on suicides of cotton farmers. In Deccan Chronicle, he exposed the problems of subabul and chilli farmers and malpractices that took place in various government departments.
