Is the Andhra Pradesh BJP changing? For the first ever time after 2019, the AP BJP has become vocal against the ruling YSRCP government. The party leaders slammed the YSRCP government on various issues such as failure in Covid control, non-payment of ex-gratia, political violence and even the tardy pace of Polaravaram works.

This is perhaps the first time when the BJP adopted a strident attitude towards the YSRCP government. All these years, the BJP was ambivalent and glossed over the failures of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. But, this time the party’s internal meet held in Vijayawada’s state headquarters saw leader after leader targeting the Jagan government. This is a welcome departure, say observers. They feel the local leaders may have changed tack due to diktats from the Central leadership.

What is interesting is that the leaders also did not criticize the TDP and Chandrababu Naidu. The leaders, including Somu Veerraju and GVL Narasimha Rao were very vocal against the Jagan Government and its policies. While one does not know if this is going to be a constant feature or just one-off incident. But, party insiders feel that it is time that the BJP should start attacking YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government.

While this is a welcome augury, the BJP backers feel that the party should be more strident and should take up people’s issues. They say that issues like Ayodhya and Jammu Kashmir will not resonate in Andhra Pradesh, where local issues occupy prime place in the political discourse. They feel the BJP in Andhra Pradesh should take up local issues of importance if it wants to grow into a credible force.