HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday constituted 14 committees to oversee various activities in poll-bound Telangana and entrusted key responsibilities to a few senior leaders who were reportedly upset with the style of functioning of the top leadership in the state.

Among the leaders named by the BJP on Thursday was former legislator Rajagopal Reddy who recently suggested that he was weighing his options and would soon take a call on his future course of action shortly. The former MLA from the Komatireddy assembly seat has been appointed as chairman of a screening committee that is expected to create a shortlist of the party’s potential candidates to be considered for party tickets.

Former minister G Vijayarama Rao has been appointed as convenor of the Scheduled Caste constituencies coordination committee, according to a statement issued by the BJP. Former MP M Vijaya Shanthi, who has been staying away from party programmes for some time, has been appointed as chairperson of the agitation committee, the announcement said. It did not indicate what the committee would do.

Former MP G Vivek Venkataswamy, who has also been reportedly sulking over the state of affairs in the party, was named chairman of the BJP manifesto and publicity committee and another former MP, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, as its convenor.

Vishweshwar Reddy had recently questioned the party’s ability to put up a strong fight against Telanagna’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). “There is suspicion among the people that there is some kind of understanding between the BRS and the BJP,” he said recently.

BJP national general secretary and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay, who was removed from the post of Telangana BJP president and replaced by G Kishan Reddy in July this year, has been given the charge of a committee on public meetings.

Barring Bandi Sanjay, the other leaders had stayed away from official meetings and public rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad on October 1 and 3, respectively.

A BJP functionary said the appointment of the party veterans was likely an attempt to mollify them. “Maybe, the party also wants to test their commitment to the party,” he said.

According to the list of the 14 committees released by the BJP, Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri will head the social media committee; DK Aruna will chair the influencer outreach committee; K Laxman will be chairman of social outreach committee; P Muralidhar Rao as chairman of charge-sheet committee; Marri Shashidhar Reddy as chairman of a committee dealing with issues pertaining to the Election Commission; M Raghunandan Rao as media committee chairman and Garikapati Mohan Rao as chair of ST constituencies coordination committee.

The announcement coincided with the BJP state executive committee meeting chaired by G Kishan Reddy on Thursday. “The meeting discussed the plan of action for the coming elections, which will be finalised at the state council meeting on Friday. BJP national president J P Nadda will attend Friday’s meeting to give a direction to the party,” the party said in its statement.