Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender
Credit: X/@Eatala_Rajender
Hyderabad: Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender is likely to be appointed as the new chief of the Telangana BJP unit.
With the current state unit chief, Secunderabad MP G Kishan Reddy being retained in the union cabinet, the BJP leadership is considering replacing him as the party Telangana unit chief.
Reddy had replaced Bandi Sanjay as Telangana chief last July, months before the Telangana assembly polls. At that time, people viewed Reddy's appointment as a temporary arrangement.
Rajender said he had received indications from the BJP high command in the last two days about his role as state unit chief.
In 2024, the BJP won eight of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, the highest for the saffron party in the state.
Secunderabad MP G Kishan Reddy, a member of the previous cabinet, and BJP's national general secretary Bandi Sanjay have been inducted into the cabinet.
Etela Rajender was also in the race for a berth in the cabinet, but he could not find a place. Rajender who hails from a numerically strong community of Backward Classes (BC) in Telangana (Mudiraj), suits the saffron party's OBC outreach.
With his soft-spoken demeanour, Rajender commands respect and admiration as a true taskmaster and a tall leader in the Mudiraj community.
According to some estimates, 130 different groups of backward classes constitute around 52 per cent of the total population of Telangana.
The major groups among the backward classes are the Golla Kurumas, Mudirajs, Gouds, and Pamdashalis, with an approximate population of 30 lakh, 29 lakh, 20 lakh, and 14 lakh, respectively.
Among the Mudirajs who wield influence in many assembly segments, there is no other leader of Rajender's stature.