Giving credence to the rumours of her joining the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Maheshwaram MLA of Congress and former Home minister Sabita Indra Reddy met TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Sunday morning at the residence of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
The meeting apparently arranged by Mr. Owaisi saw Ms. Sabita and Mr. Rama Rao discussing the possibility of her joining the party. It is said that the MLA was keen on seeking the Chevella Parliament ticket to her son P. Karthik Reddy though the TRS was more inclined to include her in the State Cabinet.
She, however, argued her son’s case but Mr. Rama Rao had asked her to meet TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to discuss the issue. Ms. Sabita was not much interested in the Cabinet berth since she had already served as the Home minister in the combined State and her son’s future was more important to her.
‘Intense pressure’
Rumours of her ‘defection’ were doing rounds for long but the Sunday meeting, just a day after AICC president Rahul Gandhi visited Telangana, surprised everyone. “The pressure was strong from the TRS for discussions as the MLC elections are scheduled on March 12,” a leader close to Ms. Sabita revealed.
Interestingly, Ms. Sabita also spoke at Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s meeting calling upon the Congress cadre to work to make him the Prime Minister of the country. In fact, the pressure from TRS was on for the last few days and she could have easily skipped Mr. Gandhi’s meeting. However, she apparently told her close followers that she wouldn’t want to embarrass Mr. Gandhi and the Congress party as she always received the respect there.
TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, CLP leader, Bhatti Vikramarka, LB Nagar MLA Sudheer Reddy and former Parigi MLA T. Rammohan Reddy met Ms. Sabita to convince her. Sources said, she had denied rumours of her leaving the party with them though there was pressure from the TRS.
