Aim to saffronise Telangana, TRS has been a disaster: Arvind Dharmapuri

After wresting away the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat from Kavitha Kalvakuntla, BJP MP-elect Arvind Dharmapuri, touted as giant-killer now, has set his sights on winning Telangana state. “The focus of BJP is to get to the seat of power in Telangana,” 42-year-old Arvind tells TOI’s Sushil Rao. Excerpts:
When you set out on your electoral battle, did you hope to win against the CM’s daughter?
Arvind: So what if she is the CM’s daughter? That was never a big deal for me.Six CMs of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh came to our house in their hey days. That is because of my father D Srinivas who has played a significant role in politics. So, there was no question of me considering Kavitha as someone too big for me to take on. I belong to Nizamabad and have significant support of the people. My father was a four-time MLA. I am politically well-connected. I have done a lot of work through my Arvind Dharmapuri Foundation to help people. My roots are in RSS and I have earned the goodwill of the people. Modi wave was there to see and I won. I consciously chose not to contest the assembly polls and fought the Lok Sabha polls.
You are being referred to as a giant-killer. Do you like that?
It does not matter whether I like it or not but what can I do if that is how I am now being described as. I was confident of my win and I am not a loser.
It is being alleged that Congress colluded with BJP to see that you win and ruling TRS is defeated in Nizamabad. Is that true?
Firstly, Kavitha has done nothing for the constituency that people should elect her again. There has been no understanding between Congress and BJP, but the fact is active TRS leaders and workers who worked for the victory of TRS candidates in the assembly elections in December 2018 chose to vote for me. Congress supporters also worked for me and voted for me.
Did you get to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi after your election? What did he have to say about your victory?
All the BJP MPs from Telangana met him in the central hall of parliament and he said “Chalo, bahut achcha hua Telangana mein (What has happened in Telangana is good).”
What will you do about turmeric farmers’ issue?
My immediate priority is to work towards them getting MSP for their produce. The turmeric board will also become a reality as I will work towards achieving it.
It is said that you are behind 178 turmeric farmers who filed their nominations as independents in Nizamabad.
Not true. The farmers in every village pooled their own money for furnishing deposit. They also took a vow not to withdraw their candidature. The village community also told them that if they withdrew, they would be penalised and also face a village boycott.
You joined BJP in 2017 and won an electoral battle in 2019. What’s your next goal?
Saffronising Telangana is my aim. BJP will come to power in the next assembly elections and that is what we will work at. The TRS government has been a disaster. It has not made use of several central schemes that would have benefited the people a lot more.