BJP names Lakshminarayana as its Andhra chief
Vijayawada, May 13: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced the appointment of Kanna Lakshminarayana as its President in Andhra Pradesh.
BJP President Amit Shah named Lakshminarayana as the new head of the state unit. He succeeds K. Haribabu, MP from Visakhapatnam.
The development came as a surprise as Lakshminarayana announced last month that he will quit the party and join the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
The 62-year-old leader, who hails from Kapu community, had aspired for the top post but after the BJP leadership indicated that he will not be given the responsibility, he decided to switch loyalties.
He had even fixed the date to join main opposition party but postponed his move, citing ill health. BJP sources said the party's central leaders persuaded him to wait till the Assembly elections in Karnataka.
Lakshminarayana, a five-time state legislator from Guntur district, severed his nearly four-decade association with the Congress to join the BJP in 2014, a few months after the elections.
He served as minister and held various portfolios in the cabinets of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, K. Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy.
He was given the responsibility to head the BJP weeks after state's ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) pulled out of BJP-led NDA at the Centre over the issue of special category status to the state. Later, the BJP also pulled out of the coalition government in the state.
Lakshminarayana will have the big task of leading the party's campaign for the 2019 elections which it may have to contest alone amid criticism from rivals for going back on the promise of according special status to Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP, which fought the 2014 elections in alliance with the TDP, bagged four Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats. The coalition won 17 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats and 106 of 175 Assembly constituencies.
BJP leaders point out that the party had polled about 7 per cent votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha and over 2 per cent in the Assembly polls. They claim that the party has huge scope for improvement in vote share and seat tally.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
