Vijayawada, Aug 11 (IANS): The newly appointed president of the Andhra Pradesh unit of the BJP, Somu Veerraju officially took charge on Tuesday. Outgoing president Kanna Lakshminarayana handed over responsibilities to Veerraju at a function attended by party bigwigs Ram Madhav, and Sunil Deodhar. The participants observed a moment in silence in the memory of the victims of the tragic fire accident at a Covid care centre here on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion Somu Veerraju alluded to the current political scenario in the state saying it is dominated by family-owned parties. He said the need of the hour is a political party with a nationalistic outlook. He asserted the BJP's commitment to the farmers who handed over their lands for the sake of the capital city in Amaravati but now face a bleak future following the YSRCP government's decision to have three state capitals.

"To the farmers in the Amaravati region, BJP is saying only one thing, the state government should develop the 64,000 plots there. All the facilities promised in the past should be implemented immediately. Cases have been foisted against several people, they should all be re-examined. In the next elections, BJP-Janasena alliance will come to power in Andhra Pradesh. We will develop that area. It is our commitment." Veerraju said.

The BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said that the party should fight corruption in the state and work hard to come to power in the 2024 assembly elections.