Congress MLAs who decided to cross over to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) are facing a peculiar situation as the planned merger of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) with the TRS is unlikely to take place, while they fear about their future if the political developments at the Centre goes against them.
The MLAs are already worried over facing people’s anger during their visit to their constituencies, while they are burdened by police complaints and the cases filed against them in the court.
National politics
Till recently, they were confident that the TRS would play a key role at the Centre if the government that is formed after the elections does not feature Congress. However, the latest reports of the Congress making all efforts to woo the regional parties, including the TRS, onto the anti-Modi bandwagon has put them in a piquant situation.
The CLP merger that they were hoping for seems to be put on the back-burner as the TRS wants to tread a cautious path.
If the merger does not happen soon, public pressure may mount. A defected MLA, whom The Hindu tried to reach, did not want to discuss the issue.
A senior TRS leader, seeking anonymity, said the party chief and Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, wants to take things slow due to various reasons, including keeping the option of alliance with the Congress open.
Given this, he does not want to be seen as an anti-democratic force at the national level admitting a national party MLAs into his party in the given circumstances.
Increased pressure
Meanwhile, the Congress feels that this is the right time to strike. It now wants to create more pressure on the defected MLAs by lodging police complaints against them, apart from obstructing their visits to their constituencies.
A complaint was lodged against Kollapur MLA Harshvardhan Reddy in Pedda Kothapalli police station by V. Arvind, sarpanch of Maredymandinne village, on Wednesday in the presence of Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, TPCC vice-president Mallu Ravi and senior leader Obedulla Kotwal.
Police action
“People are asking the police to take action against the law-makers who violated the law, and this case is part of our genuine demand to safeguard the law,” said Mr. Vikramarka. Police cases would be filed in all the constituencies where MLAs have defected to the TRS.
The CLP leader has already toured the constituencies in Khammam district where Congress MLAs defected under the banner of ‘Save Democracy Yatra’.
In fact, the yatra’s effect was seen when Yellandu MLA Banoth Haripriya faced the wrath of Congress workers when she campaigned at Govindrama village in her constituency for local body elections.
Similarly, the Pinapaka MLA, Rega Kantha Rao, had to return from Reddypalem village in Burgampad mandal.
The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Mr. Vikramarka have already moved the court seeking its intervention in any move to merge the CLP with the TRSLP.
So far, 11 out of 19 Congress MLAs have defected to the TRS.
