Armoor Vinay likely to join Congress soon

 NIZAMABAD: Armoor constituency BJP in-charge Podduturi Vinay Kumar Reddy is said to be all set to join the Congress. His followers are pressuring him to switch parties following his widening rift with BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind.

Vinay Kumar Reddy contested as an MLA from a BJP ticket in the 2018 Assembly elections and got 20,000 votes, the highest vote share for the BJP in north Telangana districts. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BRS MP candidate Kalvakuntla Kavitha got 40,000 votes in Armoor segment, whereas Arvind, the BJP candidate, secured 72,000.

Kavitha was eventually defeated, and Vinay Kumar Reddy was said to have played a key role in getting votes for the BJP. Interestingly, 12 MPTC members, six municipal councillors, five sarpanches and one ZPTC member won in Armoor Assembly egment as BJP candidates.

There is speculation that Arvind may contest as an MLA in the coming Assembly elections either from Armoor or Korutla.  If it comes through, it would pour cold water on Vinay Kumar Reddy’s ambitions. In this context, his followers were pressurising him to join the Congress whose leaders were inviting him.