Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is worried about rumours that the newly elected MLAs will jump ship to the TRS, and has started counselling them to stay on. The state Congress saw an erosion of its tally from 21 to 19 in the recent elections.
TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy along with TS Congress in-charge R.C. Khuntia felicitated MLAs at a function here on Wednesday. TPCC leaders used the occasion to convince them not to defect. The Congress has the bitter experience of 10 of its MLAs joining the TRS after the 2014 elections. The Congress is now worried that the TRS will use the same techniques to attract the Congress MLAs again.
Mr Reddy and Mr Khuntia told a few Congress MLAs that the future belonged to the Congress, and that the people would not accept the TRS for the third time. They urged the MLAs to fight against the TRS government and work for the people to improve their standing in the constituencies. Even after this pep talk, the Congress is worried that the TRS may try to poach the MLAs.
The immediate worry seems to be the Lok Sabha elections next year. With the huge TRS victory, the Congress has ceded ground in Assembly segments that constitute Lok Sabha seats. It is worried that further loss of MLAs could make it more difficult in the general elections.
