BackCongress emerging as a major force against TRS in Telangana
With former TDP leader Revanth Reddy's shift to the Congress in Telangana, the party seems to be emerging as the only major opposition force against the ruling TRS
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When Telugu Desam Party (TDP) member of legislative assembly (MLA) and working president A. Revanth Reddy resigned to join the Congress party this week, it marked an unprecedented event.
This was the first time since Telangana’s formation in 2014 that a legislator had switched to a party other than the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which had attracted a large number of defectors from all opposition parties, including the Congress.
With Reddy’s move, the grand old party seems to be emerging as the only major opposition force against the ruling TRS. After losing eight (from 21) of its MLAs to the TRS, it has not only managed to gain one, but also managed to attract district and state level leaders of the TDP, including Dasari Anasuya aka Sithakka, a former Maoist and MLA who had been appointed to the TDP’s politburo just a few days earlier.
“The Congress has come up as the major force against the TRS. This might, however, affect the equations between the opposition parties, who had been fighting together on a common platform. We might see some hesitation from the TDP to support us," said a Congress leader from Hyderabad, who asked not to be identified.
This Congress leader said that around a dozen TDP leaders who have switched loyalties along with Revanth may be offered posts in the party. “Revanth might be given the post of the chairman of the campaign committee. It is a possibility, but nothing is confirmed yet," he said.
The latest defection makes the road ahead harder for the TDP, 12 of whose MLAs switched to the TRS more than a year ago.
E. Peddi Reddy, former cabinet minister in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state and TDP spokesperson, however, dismissed Reddy’s departure, saying the party has witnessed such events in the past as well.
“Revanth is nothing special; he is just one of the 13 who left out of our total 15 MLAs. A few years ago, we gave him the post of working president to have some influence. As a two-time MLA and former minister with 35 years of experience, I told him that he should give all those 12 TDP leaders who have joined the Congress party with him the same designations that they had help in their former party. Or else, it will show that he is a selfish person," Peddi Reddy told Mint.
Calling the TDP “a powerful party", Peddi Reddy said that it will continue to grow in Telangana and that it will fill the posts vacated by those who had left.
Revanth Reddy, who is an accused in the so-called ‘cash-for-vote’ scam, where he allegedly bribed nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson to get his vote for the Telangana legislative council election (held in 2015), has been a vocal anti-TRS leader in the opposition.
Since Telangana’s formation, 12 TDP MLAs, three YSR Congress Party MLAs and one member of Parliament, eight Congress MLAs and one MP and one Communist Party of India MLA have defected to the ruling TRS.
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