Almost nine months after they quit the Congress to join the TRS protesting delay in creation of Telangana, rebel MP G. Vivekanand and his brother G. Vinod were back in the party on Monday praising the leadership for fulfilling the aspiration of the people of the region.
It was on June 2 last year Mr. Vivek along with his colleague from Nagarkurnool constituency Manda Jagannath and former Rajya Sabha member K. Keshava Rao joined the TRS in the presence of its chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
In the last few weeks, Dr. Vivek reportedly held consultations with the Congress leadership and on Monday they formally returned to the party fold after a meeting with AICC president Sonia Gandhi. Talking to reporters later, Dr. Vivek said they decided to come back as the Congress despite facing hurdles had divided the State to create a new State of Telangana.
The two brothers at the press conference refused to make any criticism of the TRS chief only referring to the good work done by the Congress leadership. Dr. Vivek, who represents the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat, is likely to be retained there while his brother has been promised Chennur Assembly seat in Adilabad district. Meanwhile, Dr. Manda Jagannath refuted reports that he too was planning to come back to the Congress. He told reporters in New Delhi that there were no plans on his part to join the Congress. He expressed the confidence that there was no threat to Dalits in the TRS. The Nagarkurnool MP said he had already started campaign in his constituency and there was no way he would join the Congress.
