A day after completing his six-year term as the member of the Telangana Legislative Council, Congress leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy resigned from the party and decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mr. Reddy sent his resignation to AICC president Rahul Gandhi and later met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi expressing his desire to join the party. Mr. Reddy had a long stint with the Congress and worked as the president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Andhra Pradesh Youth Congress for a long time.
He was rewarded for his service with national level posts like AICC secretary and later nominated as the Member of Legislative Council in Telangana. In the recent Assembly elections he was keen on contesting but could not be nominated due to some seats going to the Grand Alliance in his native Khammam disrtict. He was also an aspirant for the Khammam Lok Sabha seat but the party decided to field former Union minister Renuka Chowdary.
Mr. Reddy is likely to join the BJP at the public meeting to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hyderabad on Monday.
Move faulted
TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayan Reddy strongly condemned Mr. Sudhakhar Reddy’s criticism on the Congress party and its leadership in his resignation letter released to the media.
“Sudhakar Reddy was given several opportunities by the Congress party although he never won an election in his lifetime. He had served as an MLC till March 29. However, just two days after the expiry of his term, he resigned from the party while levelling baseless allegations against the leadership. This shows his opportunistic approach and greed for power,” he said.
Mr. Reddy said he is apparently trying to please Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao by criticising the Congress party during the peak of election campaign. He said that the exit of some selfish and opportunist leaders would not harm the Congress party.
