Hyderabad:

The BJP’s top leaders in Telangana are meeting party chief JP Nadda to work out a battle plan for the state election, due later this year, over concerns that their rival and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR, may prefer an early election.

The BJP is concerned that before they can prepare their ground, the Chief Minister’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) may rush to an early election.

During the campaign, the BJP will highlight alleged link in the Delhi liquor policy case with people connected to KCR’s daughter K Kavitha, who is also a BRS leader.

Recently, the CBI arrested Butchibabu Gorantla, a former chartered accountant of Ms Kavitha, for alleged corruption in framing the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy with the Aam Aadmi Party’s Manish Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday.

KCR condemned Mr Sisodia’s arrest, saying it was an “attempt to divert people’s attention from the Prime Minister and Adani nexus.”

A BJP leader claimed Ms Kavitha would likely be arrested next. “There is a possibility of some more arrests in the liquor scam. Kavitha will also be arrested soon,” Telangana BJP leader Vivek told news agency PTI yesterday.

The BJP will review its campaign to hold 11,000 street meetings across Telangana by today, sources said.

Some of the BJP leaders who are attending the meeting include Amit Shah, Sunil Bansal, G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay, among others.

The BJP has been gathering its forces outside KCR’s citadel since the last assembly election and is hoping to gain a foothold in the southern state.

The assembly election this year and the national election next year will show if BJP’s campaign, mostly riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, can work in Telangana, where regional affiliations are strong.