HYDERABAD: TRS leaders in Munugode Assembly constituency are stepping up pressure on the party leadership against giving the ticket to former legislator Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy for the ensuing byelection.
The opposition has been so intense that some ruling party ZPTCs and MPTCs have joined the BJP in the last couple of days even tough the TRS is yet to announce Prabhakar Reddy’s candidature. More sarpanchs are threatening to join BJP if the party sticks with Reddy as its nominee.
Chandur ZPTC Karnati Venkatesham, MPTCs Avvaru Githa and Cheripally Bhaskar quit the TRS and joined BJP in the presence of former Munugode legislator Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy on Wednesday. The development has come as a major setback for TRS ahead of the elections as these leaders were actively involved in campaigning till Tuesday along with energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy, whose followers they ostensibly are.
The party leadership went into damage-control mode by calling agitation programmes in areas represented by the ZPTC and MPTCs against their eleventh-hour defection. The party is trying to keep its flock together and prevent any further defections.
Meanwhile, many local party leaders believe that the leadership has finalised the candidature of Prabhakar Reddy and the announcement is a mere formality since only he is allowed to take part in campaigns with Jagadish Reddy.
