It will be a double whammy for Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) if Kadiam Srihari who resigned from Telugu Desam on Saturday chose to join that party because he will bring with him the huge Madiga vote bank in Telangana and also lend his skills of articulation.
Mr. Srihari was considered the hidden hand being the Madiga movement for categorisation of Scheduled Castes though he belonged to the Baindla community which is considered lower in strata than Madigas.
He played a key role in drawing the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) closer to the TDP and eventually ensuring that the Madigas become a vote bank of the party. MRPS president Manda Krishna minced no words when he said that the organisation will continue to like Mr. Srihari in whichever party he worked; the sole criteria being his services for categorisation.
Insisting that it was the necessity of Madigas to stand by Mr. Srihari, Mr. Krishna told The Hindu that the Madigas will be no different from Malas if they neglected lower castes. The Malas traditionally looked down upon the Madigas and if the latter did the same to castes as Baindla, what difference will it make?, he argued. Mr. Srihari can expect little resistance to earn a ticket from TRS in the elections next year as he hailed from Parvathagiri in Wardhannapet Assembly constituency which was SC reserved. A senior TRS leader said he could alternatively be accommodated from Warangal Parliamentary constituency which was also SC reserved.
He might find the going tough in Station Ghanpur Assembly constituency which he represented thrice because the TRS already had a sitting MLA there who joined the party after quitting Congress and membership of Assembly. He added that the TRS was looking for leaders like Mr. Srihari to lend voice to the demand for separate Telangana in Parliament.
He recalled that the TDP had also deputed Mr. Srihari to present the party’s stand in favour of bifurcation of the State when the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde convened an all-party meeting.
