Hyderabad: After the 2014 Assembly elections, the TRS saw a large number of leaders entering its portals. But before the 2018 Assembly elections, there is a long list of leaders quitting the party.
Part of the reason for this appears to be the flood of leaders, including senior politicians, that the TRS admitted. Among these were MPs, MLCs and MLAs of the Congress, Telugu Desam, YSR Congress, BSP and the CPI. These included two MPs and 30 MLAs.
Therefore, by the time the elections came around, the TRS was loaded with several seniors who are aspiring for party tickets. Given the intense competition, the TRS leadership has been unable to accommodate the serious aspirants.
Another problem was caused by the Centre refusing to increase the number of seats in the Assembly by delimiting constituencies as was promised in the AP bifurcation Act. If the number of seats had been increased, the TRS could have accommodated more candidates.
Except about five, all sitting MLAs, including the defectors, in the dissolved Assembly were given tickets. This has led to dissatisfaction in some seniors who are leaving the party.
TRS MLCs Bhoopathi Reddy from Nizamabad and Konda Murali from Warangal have joined the Congress. MLC Ramulu Naik who was suspended on Monday also likely to join the Congress.
Some former MPs and MLAs of the TRS have joined the Congress including Ms Konda Surekha, Ms Suman Rathod and former MP Ramesh Rathod.
Political circles expressed surprise that the MLCs were leaving the party even though TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was confident about retaining power and winning 100 seats.
