An interesting development in the BJP, which missed many media persons, is that the BJP has decided to implement reservations for SC/ST/BC and women in the party posts

Will Sunil Iska Take the Helm?

metro india news  I amaravati

All eyes are on Andhra Pradesh as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to finalise name of the party president in the State. With incumbent BJP Rajamahendravaram MP Daggubati Purandeshwari backing out, several names are doing the rounds in media circles.

An interesting development in the BJP, which missed many media persons, is that the BJP has decided to implement reservations for SC/ST/BC and women in the party posts. Though the district president’s names were decided by the respective Returning officers and the entire process was done in a very democratic way, the national BJP leadership has tweaked the list applying the reservation system.

This is precisely the reason, why leaders from SC/ST/BC and women category got the opportunity to serve the party as district unit presidents. This is a step welcomed by SC, ST, BC and women category BJP leaders and they are highly appreciative of the policy taken by the BJP Central leadership especially PM Modi, HM Amit Shah and JP Nadda.

BJP leaders and activists say that this policy initiative by BJP will go a long way and help leaders from these marginalised communities and categories to get chance to work up the ladder. “This is a golden opportunity that the BJP central leadership is giving to us all over the country. This will help us to work hard and emerge as true people’s leaders,” said a BJP SC leader.

Going by the new policy of BJP, now there is chance for leaders from SC, ST, BC and Women category to become the presidents of the State BJP units. Keeping this in mind, if one wish to speculate who will be the next BJP President in Andhra Pradesh, the answer boils down to three leaders, Ramachandra Reddy from Cuddapah, Madhav (BC) from Vizag and Iska Sunil from Nellore.

Since AP BJP has already headed by Presidents from two dominant castes in AP, Kamma and Kapu twice each, the chances are that the national BJP leadership may prefer a leader from Reddy community or from SC. If the reservation policy is applied in true letter and spirit, Sunil Iska stands a better chance. So far, AP BJP is never headed by a leader from SC community. The case is no different from several states.

Sunil Iska was former BJP Dalit Morcha President and is now BJP IT Cell convenor. Besides being an academic scholar having a Doctorate and teaching experience in universities, Sunil Iska is a polyglot. In the last elections, it was he who translated PM Modi’s meetings in AP. 

Being young and who rose by the rank and files of RSS, Sunil has contributed a lot to the growth of BJP in AP. He worked closely with successive BJP presidents in AP from Kanna Laxminarayana, Somu Veeraju to D Purandeshwari. He works in close proximity to the BJP Central leadership while maintaining his contacts at the ground level BJP workers in AP.

It is expected that the BJP central leadership will take a decision by end of this month and announce the name of AP BJP President.