Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s ‘Praja Sangrama Yatra’ continued to blast through the city today, as workers and party leaders belonging to the BJP went around town to interact with citizens.
On Sunday, at around 12:30 p.m., Sanjay’s Padayatra crossed Tolichowki. It had started on Saturday from the Bhagyalakshmi temple at Charminar. According to BJP leaders, the main objective of the padayatra is to bring the saffron party to power in 2023.
With hundreds of supporters moving along with Bandi Sanjay Kumar, police personnel were also attached to his group to maintain law and order. The controversial hate-spewing politician, who also represents the Kaimnagar Lok Sabha seat, passed through the old Mumbai highway by around 1 p.m. and then continued to other areas.
Eyewitnesses said that the Padayatra caused a lot of traffic jam and noise pollution. A local, who requested anonymity, remarked “Now we have to purify the roads.”
Earlier in a controversial statement, Bandi Sanjay called out to people to chase away the AIMIM party from Telangana for “supporting” the Taliban. “We will chase away Taliban ideological AIMIM and the party which is supporting them from Telangana,” he said, as crowds cheered.
A day earlier, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had also levied a fine of Rs 35,000 on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for putting up hoardings without prior permission in various parts of the city.
The BJP had put hoardings of Hyderabad’s iconic Charminar with the party flag on it to promote state president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay’s padayatra. However, the hoardings did not go unnoticed as many citizens took strong objections and accused the BJP of trying to stoke communal tensions in the city.
Bandi Sanjay is famous for flaring up communal passions and defecating hate against the Muslim community. According to a statement from the BJP, Sanjay Kumar also spoke to fruit vendors and workers along the way. He apparently inquired about the welfare of the workers working in shopping malls. The Karimnagar MP also spoke about the Rs. 10,000 assistance to the SWA fund given by the Centre to street vendors.