Telangana: Several BJP, TRS leaders to join Congress after secret meet with TPCC President

Politicians from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) announced that they would be joining the Congress Party. They met Anumula Revanth Reddy, TPCC president, at his residence on Tuesday and informed him about the decision. Politicians like Erra Shekhar, former Jadcherla MLA and present BJP president of Mahabubnagar, Dharmapuri Sanjay, former Mayor of Nizamabad and Gandra Satyanarayana, a senior leader from Bhupalapalli were the ones who visited him.

With the support of Revanth Reddy, Shekhar left his post as BJP district unit president and announced that he would be joining Congress along with his supporters. Satyanarayana revealed that he will be organising a meeting for their arrival at the Congress Party. Sanjay, son of TRS Rajya Sabha member D. Srinivas, said that the appointment of Revanth Reddy to a top post in Congress had raised the hopes of people. Revanth Reddy would soon join the political party in a ceremony in New Delhi in the presence of national leaders. This comes after allegations from TPCC secretary Kaushik Reddy in a press conference that A Revanth Reddy paid Rs 50 crore to All India Congress Committee (AICC) Telangana in-charge Manickam Tagore to get the post of the TPCC President.

Rift among TRS leaders

D. Sanjay revealed that even though his family belonged to Congress, he joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) only because of his father. He further said that he always felt suffocated and at TRS, it was clear that there was no respect for anyone who worked with the party. He said, "The day I wore the TRS scarf, I felt like carrying an axe around my neck. I joined the party for my father." D. Srinivas, who is the father of Sanjay, currently is not playing a role in the party activities because of differences with the TRS leadership. Earlier, he was an important leader of the Congress party who twice led the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and was also a minister in Congress governments. After the formation of Telangana, h appointment in the TRS shocked the party and Congress loyalists as he had a close association with Sonia Gandhi.