Hyderabad: The MLCs who defected to the TRS blamed it on the “mistakes” done by Congress leadership. MLCs Akula Lalitha, M.S. Prabhakar Rao, R. Damodar Reddy and Santosh Kumar said they were not against the Congress. They said they would not criticise the Congress but would take on the leaders.
The four MLCs shared their views with this newspaper. I went with the people: Lalitha
Ms Lalitha joined the TRS because the people were with the it, which was was proved in the recent elections. Though an MLC, Ms Lalitha contested from the Armoor constituency in Nizamabad district on a Congress ticket and lost to Mr Jeevan Reddy of the TRS.
Ms Lalitha said, “Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao asked me to join the TRS. He said, ‘In the Council you are the only member from the Congress. People are with the TRS, you cannot to do anything for the people while in the Congress. If you join in TRS you can serve the people’.”
Ms Lalitha said these words from Mr Rao made her join the TRS. Incidentally, TRS MP D. Srinivas is Ms Lalitha’s political guru. Incidentally, Mr Srinivas had asked the TRS leadership to suspend him from the party before the Assembly elections.
Ms Lalitha had contested the 2014 Assembly elections as a Congress candidate. Asked why she did not join the TRS then, Ms Lalitha said she thought that the people may change their mind in 2018. “The results showed that the people are still with the TRS,” she said. Any leader would go along with people but not political parties, said Ms Lalitha who has about two and a half years of her term left.
Not against Cong: Prabhakar
MLC M.S. Prabhakar Rao said that though he had joined the TRS he was not against the Congress, only its leadership. He said the TRS government was implementing welfare schemes for various sections.
He claimed that he had faced insults while in the Congress and the leaders had ignored him. Mr Prabhakar Rao said that when he complained to the AICC leaders about this when they came to Hyderabad but they had lunch and dinner with the same leaders.
“The Congress had taken up welfare schemes but they did not reach the people. With the TRS government, every scheme is reaching the people,” Mr Prabhakar Rao said. His term ends in May.
Not for strong leaders: Damodar
MLC K. Damodar Reddy said strong leaders had no place in the Congress. “I was in the Congress for 36 years, I lost financially by contesting the elections. In spite of that I worked hard to strengthen the party,” he said. He was irked because the Congress admitted Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who fought against the party for decades, without consulting him.
He said when Dr Janardhan Reddy was given a ticket, some Congress cadres decided to join the TRS. To protect his cadre he had joined the TRS. He alleged that after former minister S. Jaipal Reddy started involving himself in Mahbubnagar district affairs, the party started weakening. He has three years left in the Council.
Wanted to save colleagues: Santosh Kumar
MLC Santosh Kumar said that in order to protect his colleague Damodar Reddy and others he had joined the TRS. Mr Kumar said that he was told that Mr Damodar Reddy and the others may be disqualified if the Congress lodged a complaint with Legislative Council Chairman A. Swamy Goud. If four MLCs gave a resolution on merging the CLP in Council with the TRS they would be saved from disqualification. He followed them to protect them. He said he had not asked for any position. “When Kiran Kumar Reddy was Chief Minister he made me MLC without asking,” he said. Mr Kumar’s term expires in May.
