It was almost the Aya Ram, Gaya Ram moment for the former Congress minister P. Shankar Rao.
Peeved at denial of the Congress ticket from Shadnagar Assembly constituency, Dr. Shankar Rao quit the party and approached the Samajwadi Party and got the nomination. He secured the B Form and submitted the same to the Returning Officer in Shadnagar on Monday, the last day of filing of nomination.
As the scrutiny of nomination papers was taken up this morning, Dr. Shankar Rao got a call from the Congress high command. The former Congress minister came out of the Returning Officer’s chamber and told the waiting reporters that he was withdrawing his papers. “The Congress leaders urged me to render my valuable services to the party. I decided to withdraw from the contest and quit the Samajwadi party too,” he said.
Talking to The Hindu , the five time MLA, said that in less than 24 hours it was all over.
“I joined the Samajwadi Party, got the B. Form and filed my papers. But, I cannot forget the services of Congress party and hence decided to withdraw from the race and quit the Samajwadi Party too,” he remarked.
Outside parties
But, Dr. Shankar Rao is not the only leader, who has switched loyalties on denial of the ticket.
Surprisingly, parties that have influence outside Telangana are much in demand in this elections. For instance, Bahujan Samaj Party is the party that has been the favourite of the party hoppers.
Former minister G. Vinod, a staunch Congressman who shifted his loyalty to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti two years ago, minced no words when he was ignored for the Chennur SC reserved ticket.
Son of former Union minister G. Venkataswamy, Mr. Vinod got the B. Form from BSP to contest from Bellampally constituency. Incidentally, he is the brother-in-law of Dr. Shankar Rao.
Another leader, Narayan Rao Patel peeved at his cousin getting the Congress ticket approached the Nationalist Congress Party. He is now the NCP candidate from Mudhole constituency, which has sizeable voters who speak Marathi as it borders Nanded district of Maharashtra.
All parties
Similarly, BJP too faced its embarrassment as the Nizamabad Urban constituency in charge Dhanpal Suryanarayana quit the party after he failed to get the nomination. He approached the Shiv Sena leaders and got their nod to contest the election.
Former TDP MLA Aruna Tara, who was with the Congress till recently joined the BJP on failing to get the Jukkal SC ticket and in 48 hours was declared as the BJP nominee. Former TRS MLA from Choppadandi Bodige Shoba too switched sides to bag the BJP ticket. TDP leader Bollam Mallaiah Yadav switched over to the TRS and is the party nominee from Kodad.
Unasked ticket
Curiously, TDP MLA from L.B.Nagar in the recently dissolved Assembly, R. Krishnaiah was surprised to find his name as Congress candidate from Miryalaguda seat.
For the record, in 2014, two BSP candidates — A. Indrakaran Reddy and Koneru Konappa — both former Congress leaders contested on the elephant symbol and won the elections from Nirmal and Sirpur constituencies.
