Former IGP, YSRC MLC Iqbal Joins TDP

Anantapur: Former IGP of Rayalaseema Md. Iqbal, who has three more years of tenure as a YSRC MLC, resigned as MLC and from the ruling party as well on Wednesday.

The same day, he joined the Telugu Desam Party in presence of its chief N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Soon after his retirement as IGP, Iqbal had joined YSRC. The ruling party made him in-charge of Hindupur assembly constituency. YSRC went on to field Iqbal as its candidate against sitting MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna in 2019 elections, when many other leaders had been aspiring to contest from Hindupur.

Iqbal lost the contest from Hindupur, a constituency that has been a stronghold of TDP from the time of NTR, who got elected thrice from this constituency.

However, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy compensated him by making him an MLC, while retaining him as Hindupur in-charge. Yet, Iqbal faced difficulties from various YSRC leaders within the Hindupur constituency, including APIDC chairman Naveen Nischal.

The party high command led by regional coordinator Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy reviewed the situation and nominated K. Deepika as party in-charge of Hindupur assembly constituency.

This led to protests from supporters of Iqbal, who decided to shift to Hyderabad and stay away from politics.

Thus, his resignation as MLC and from YSRC, and joining Telugu Desam in presence of Chandrababu Naidu has come as a surprise, though Iqbal had blamed Jagan Mohan Reddy for ignoring minorities a couple of days ago.

Political analyst Ramana observed that being in police and politics are altogether different. He points out that the political career of another police officer Gorantla Madhav, who had gone on to become an MP, has also come to a halt.

It is to be seen how Iqbal’s move of joining the Telugu Desam is going to help him.