Defections from the ruling Congress in protest against its decision to bifurcate the State against the interests of Seemandhra people is continuing.
Former Ministers Erasu Pratap Reddy and T.G. Venkatesh switched loyalties to the TDP on Sunday. The development comes a day after another senior Congress leader and former Minister G. Aruna Kumari joined the TDP fold.
Mr. Pratap Reddy, son of former TDP MP E. Ayyapu Reddy and Mr. Venkatesh, who entered politics on TDP ticket, described their joining the TDP as ‘home coming’. They could not continue in the Congress that divided the State unilaterally giving a raw deal to Seemandhra region.
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Leave alone infrastructure and other requirements, the Government of the new State would not be in a position to pay salaries to its staff. After deciding to quit the Congress, they were left with two options either to join the TDP/the YSR Congress or float a new party. “We don’t have the capacity to fund a new political party. So we have decided to join the TDP,” Mr. Pratap Reddy said. TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu made clear that the TDP had charted out an elaborate mechanism to select its nominees. “Never in the three-decade-long career did I undertake such an elaborate exercise. Several aspects will be considered including the survey reports and views of the cadre in respective constituencies,” he said.
The TRS had changed track immediately after the passage of the Bill in the Parliament and its president K. Chandrasekhar Rao was singing a different tune on the promises he made including making a Dalit the Chief Minister of Telangana.