Congress member of Parliament from Bhongir, Komatireddy Venkata Reddy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday creating a buzz in the political circles here given his hot-cold relationship with the Congress leadership.
Though officially the meeting was to discuss the rejuvenation of the Musi river on the lines of Namami Gange and seeking funds for Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway, the political angle to the meeting that went on for over 30 minutes is being widely discussed as a step moving close to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Will the Prime Minister give 30 minutes of his time to a Parliament member just to discuss the problems of a constituency or developmental programmes, and that too to an MP from the opposition party,” a senior leader close to Mr. Venkata Reddy asked. “There was a lot more discussion on politics in Telangana including an invitation to support the BJP.”
Rumours are rife of Mr. Reddy joining the BJP before the next Lok Sabha elections ever since his brother Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy resigned from the Congress and also as an MLA to bring a by-poll in Munugode. Though Mr. Rajgopal Reddy contested on the BJP ticket and lost the by-poll the absence of Mr. Venkata Reddy in the election campaign indicated that he would be with his brother more than the party.
The discussion with the Prime Minister apparently also revolved around other Congress and TRS leaders who could join the BJP as the election season picks in Telangana. It is said that the names of Jupally Krishna Rao, former MLA from Kollapur and others figured in the discussion. TRS leaders who contested against the Congress MLAs, who later defected to the TRS apparently came up for discussion. These TRS leaders are under the impression that they may not get the party ticket as the Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekhar Rao has already indicated that sitting MLAs would be preferred.
Certain developments in the Congress like excluding Mr. Venkata Reddy from all party posts in the newly announced TPCC Executive Committee are also an indication of the Congress firmly believing that he would not stay in the party till the end. The Bhongir MP met newly elected AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday and discussed the political situation of the party in Telangana.
This is not the first meeting of Mr. Venkata Reddy with the Prime Minister as he had earlier met him in March this year to submit documents alleging corruption of the KCR government in irrigation projects and Naini coal block tenders. He had sought cancellation of tenders then.
When contacted by The Hindu, Mr. Venkata Reddy said the meeting was purely to seek funds for the national highway and also purification of the Musi river, which he termed the most polluted river in the country. “Mr. Modi was surprised to understand the bad condition of Musi and assured me that its cleanup would be taken up. A committee would be constituted for this soon,” he said.
