In a significant political development, a day head of the crucial Legislative Council elections to fill up six vacancies, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has decided to back the candidates put up by the TRS.
Polling for the Council elections will be held from 9 am onwards in the Committee Hall of the Telangana Assembly. Counting of votes would be taken up immediately after the polling concludes. YSR Congress Telangana unit president P. Srinivas Reddy in a statement issued here on Sunday announced party’s decision to support the TRS. The party is not in a position to field its candidates. “As a responsible party, we feel it is our responsibility to participate in the polling process,” he said.
“In the recent Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council election for the post of deputy chairman, the Congress members shamelessly backed TDP candidate Satish Kumar Reddy. It is also not out of place to remind the role of TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu in protecting the then Kiran Kumar Reddy Government in the past by issuing a whip to abstain from voting. In such circumstances, the YSR Congress feels that it is better to support the TRS than back the candidature of the Congress or the TDP contestants in the Council elections,” Mr. Srinivas Reddy said.
YSRC has three members in the Telangana Assembly, but two of its members had defected to the TRS earlier this year. Presently, only one MLA is with the YSR Congress. Nevertheless, the decision to back TRS is expected to boost the chances of the five ruling party candidates. The announcement by the YSR Congress comes in the backdrop of TDP MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao from Kukatpally Assembly constituency shifting his loyalties to the TRS.
