Bandi Sanjay develops cold feet, stays away from Munugode campaign

MUNUGODE: While Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy is having a hard time reconnecting with the Munugode voters as a BJP candidate, Bandi Sanjay, party's state unit chief, and the man who was touted to be their star campaigner, is nowhere to be seen.

Ironically, it was Bandi Sanjay who was the first high-profile leader to have provided the first sparks for political heat with regard to the Munugode by-election. As part of his fourth phase Praja Sangrama Yatra, the BJP leader toured the length and breadth of the Assembly constituency, generating enough buzz.

But Sanjay suddenly playing the Houdini act, that too at a time when the Munugode campaigning has hit its peaks, is causing enough consternation for the BJP cadre. As it turns out, the BJP state chief is currently on a spiritual sojourn in several parts of Karnataka.

In the latest update on his official Twitter handle on Sunday, he posted the pictures of his visit to the Mookambika Temple in Kollur of Udupi. The timing of his temple-hopping and paying obeisance to seers of various mutts in Karnataka, far away from the prestigious Munugode battlefield, is raising many eyebrows, both within the party and outside.

Interestingly, this was not the first time that Bandi Sanjay has given the campaigning a grand miss and taken everyone by surprise. The BJP state chief went off the radar in similar fashion even during the by-election to the Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency. The BJP had never been a serious contender as far as the politics of erstwhile combined Nalgonda district are concerned. With nominal presence, the saffron party failed to even secure the deposit in both Huzurnagar and Nagarjuna Sagar by-elections.

Munugode was, by far, its best bet in terms of nursing hopes on making its presence felt in the region. Rajgopal Reddy, who switched sides from the Congress to BJP and caused the by-election, was known to have some clout locally given that he comes from the Komatireddy family. A few conflicting theories have been floating around on what could have dissuaded Bandi Sanjay from this crucial by-election campaigning. While those smelling conspiracy theories showcase this as a proof of bitter infighting in BJP, there came another piece of news that probably could have delivered the final nail on the coffin for Bandi Sanjay as well as the party.

It is speculated that the party state leadership was stung by the results of a few latest surveys which showed bleak chances for the party in Munugode. It is believed that Bandi Sanjay had been keeping a safe distance from Munugode ever since he got hold of the survey reports.