ADILABAD: Some Congress leaders have claimed that they received phone calls from the BJP top leadership to join the party and have been leaking information to the media to project that they were showing inte-rest in joining the BJP. But news is also making the rounds in political circles that many Congress leaders including Ramesh Rathod who recently contested the Lok Sabha seat and Nirmal DCC president Aleti Maheshwar Reddy were in touch with top leaders of the BJP and are likely to join the BJP.
It is also learnt that the BJP is luring senior TD leaders and those were active in Praja Rajyam led by the actor Chiranjeevi and Congress in the state.
The BJP is also trying to attract the leaders of these two parties from the districts of north Telangana where it won three Lok Sabha seats for the first time.
Congress party leaders say the BJP is desperate to lure leaders from other parties to strengthen its base at the grassroots.
Adilabad DCC president Bhargav Deshp-ande said, “I received a phone call from BJP leaders asking me to join the BJP and many other Congress leaders also received phone calls from BJP leaders but no Congress leader had shown interest in joining the BJP. It is learnt that some top BJP leaders have camped in Hyderabad and are trying to lure the leaders of other parties into its fold.”
Bhargav Deshpande observed that nearly 70 per cent of DCC presidents in the state might have received phone calls from BJP leaders inviting them to join the party.
He said, however, the Congress was focusing on municipal elections and would play a crucial role in electing the municipal Chairman of Adilabad. The Congress party recently organized a TPCC meeting at Nagarjunsagar in which all the DCC presidents took part and an action plan to face the municipal elections was discussed.
