A day after senior BRS leaders C Krishna Yadav and J Chittaranjan Das joined the BJP, the ruling party in Telangana suffered another setback when MLC Kasireddy Narayan Reddy resigned from its primary membership and revealed his intention to join the Congress.
“Sonia Gandhi formed the state of Telangana even though she knew that the Congress would suffer politically. I have decided to join the Congress party to form a democratic and public welfare government in Telangana,” Narayan Reddy said in a letter to BRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday, 1 October.
“Thank you for the opportunities you have given me. I submit my resignation from the active membership of the BRS party,” he added.
Speaking to South First later, the MLC from Khanapur in the Mahbubnagar district recalled that he had contested in polls independently during the initial days of his political career.
“The people in my constituency feel I am inactive in politics, and I am unable to assist. With their blessings, I wished to seek other options,” he said.
Related: Former ministers Krishna Yadav and Chittaranjan Das join BJP
Joining Congress in 3 days
Narayan Reddy said that he had met MP and TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy. “I will join the Congress in the next three days,” he claimed.
In his letter to the BRS chief, he pointed out that he had made “sacrifices for the betterment of the people and took advantage of the opportunity given by you as the in-charge of Kalvakurti Constituency”.
He went on to lay blame on BRS MLAs. “I don’t like caste division. The police system in constituencies has become a puppet in the hands of MLAs,” he wrote.
The MLC added that BRS MLAs were suppressing dissent, and even their followers were not given any priority in welfare schemes.
Narayan Reddy began his political career as an Independent candidate. He later joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) — now the BRS.
He is also the chairman of the Brilliant Group of Technical Institutions. He was elected as an MLC In 2016.
Related: Hanumantha Rao, son Rohith, ex-MLA Vemula Veeresham join Cong
Congress’ Medak chief resigns
Meanwhile, the Congress’ Medak district president Kantha Reddy Tirupati Reddy resigned from the party alleging that the political formation was selling tickets to “moneybags”.
He was invited to Delhi after the Congress received several applications for the Medak constituency. It was expected that Mynampally Hanumanth Rao’s son Rohith, who joined the Congress on 28 September, might get the ticket. It angered the Congress leaders in the district.
“It is a fact that workers like me who have worked hard for the party for the past 10 years have no place in this party. It makes no sense to anyone who sees the developments in the party lately. I am deeply saddened to see the allotment of party tickets based on money bags without recognising the services others have rendered for the Congress party,” he said.
He added that the self-esteem of Telangana would become a laughingstock in the bazaar tomorrow.
“Several Congress workers like me felt that after the Karnataka state elections, the party would get a boost in Telangana. People believe that the Congress model is to hand over seats only to leaders with deep pockets. Only leaders who have bags of money will get seats, not those who are on good terms with the people and fighting the problems the people face,” he added.
