Bandi Sanjay Kumar was released on bail a day ago.
A day after being released from jail on bail following his arrest on charges of helping leak secondary school exam papers in a bid to target the Telangana government, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the president of the state's BJP unit and MP from Karimnagar, launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, and his family.
Speaking to NDTV at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Hyderabad, Mr Kumar accused KCR of being involved in various scams and corruption cases.
"Jail is not new to me, cases are not new to me. I have been to jail 10 times. I went to jail for Telangana, not for corruption or wrongdoing. KCR's family is involved in all this wrongdoing. I went to jail for 30 lakh youth of Telangana who are suffering due to the mismanagement of TSPSC (Telangana State Public Service Commission)," he said.
He alleged that TSPSC was a "big scam" and that the state government was playing with the lives and future of those who had applied for various jobs. He demanded a probe by a sitting judge into the irregularities in the recruitment process and a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the family of each person affected by the scam.
"I went to jail and returned carrying Telangana society on our shoulders. We are not afraid of anyone. We are ready to face any challenge. We are ready to go to jail again and again for Telangana," he said.
As the helmsman of the BJP in a state where it has a limited presence, Bandi Sanjay Kumar's rise has been quite remarkable. From a municipal corporator who contested and lost the assembly elections in 2014 and 2018, the 51-year-old managed to win the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat in 2019, trouncing then Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader Vinod Kumar and Congress leader Ponnam Prabhakar.
His Praja Sangrama Yatra has earned praise from PM Modi, who asked other state leaders to emulate the example he has set in Telangana. Mr Kumar is seen as a hardliner whose strong language and aggressive stance on issues have won him admirers, more so after his recent arrest.
"Bandi Sanjay has often managed to get under the skin of BRS leaders with the googlies he throws at them. If he is arrested again, his popularity graph only goes up. So, the BRS messed up in its political calculation of intimidating him," said Vijay Ramaraju, a BJP leader from Secunderabad Cantonment.
Bandi Sanjay Kumar himself said his hard work has been rewarded by the party, by giving him recognition and responsibility. "BJP is the only party where even an ordinary party worker can rise to heights with their hard work," he said.
He also announced that one crore families in Telangana were ready to teach KCR and his family a lesson in the elections later this year. He said that the BJP had fought for Telangana so that the youth get jobs, but KCR's family had used Telangana only to benefit themselves. He said that they had failed to fulfil their promise of giving one job to every family.
He praised PM Modi for a move to create 10 lakh jobs and said that the process had started today with the notification of various central government posts. He said that there was no scam in the central government job notifications and that BJP would ensure transparency and merit in the recruitment process.
He challenged KCR's son and IT minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) to come face-to-face with him and answer his questions. He called him a "Twitter Tillu" who only speaks on social media but does not have the guts to face the people without police protection.
"He is a Twitter Tillu. He only speaks on Twitter. He is not willing to come face-to-face. If he has the guts, he should come without police protection and he and his family should come to the people to ask about their problems. Will he do that?" he asked.
He also denied any role in leaking the Class 10 question papers and said that he was "ready to take an oath on his family and God". He dared KCR and the commissioner of education to take the same oath and prove that he did wrong.
"I took an oath on my family members and God. I am taking an oath once again. Let KCR come with his family and take the same oath. Let the commissioner also take oath on the three lions on his cap that Bandi Sanjay did wrong. I am a follower of Modi. No question of doing any wrong or sparing anyone who did wrong," he said.