HYDERABAD: TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy is in an unenviable situation with TRS trying to spirit away more number of Congress legislators, making his election to the Telangana Legislative Council under MLAs quota, dicey.
For Narayana Reddy to win the election, he needs the support of 21 MLAs. Though the Congress has only 19 MLAs, it was counting on the two TDP MLAs from Khammam to help it navigate through the choppy waters with TRS prowling like a predator all around, looking for Congress MLAs. The TDP was an ally of the Congress in the recent Assembly polls.
Their worst fears came true on Saturday with two MLAs — Rega Kantha Rao (Pinapaka) and Athram Sakku (Asifabad) — declaring that they have joined the TRS and Sattupalle TDP MLA Sandra Vekata Veeraiah’s decision on Sunday to join ranks with the TRS came as a sledge hammer blow on the prospects of Narayana Reddy, who now cannot even afford the luxury of entertaining any hope of winning the election on March 12.
The five seats are falling vacant with the retirement of Mohammed Mehmood Ali, Mohammad Saleem, T Santosh Kumar, Mohammed Ali Shabbir and Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy. The TRS is re-nominating Home Minister Mohammad Mehmood Ali, and is nominating Satyavathi Rathod, Y Mallesam and Sheri Subhash Reddy for four seats while the AIMIM is fielding Riyaz Ul Hassan Effendi for the fifth seat. An agitated Congress called an emergency meeting of the Legislature Party to discuss the TRS machinations in spiriting away MLAs at a time when election of Guduru Narayana Reddy should have been a fait accompli because it had the requisite numbers.
Giving it a miss
As the emergency meeting, called to discuss the desertions, began there were tense moments with two more Congress MLAs - Pilot Rohit Reddy (Tandur) and K Upender Reddy (Palair) giving it a miss. Though a ready explanation was given that they had taken permission from the party leadership beforehand, yet the rumour mill continued working overtime predicting that the TRS machinery was trying to not only reach out to them but also another three to four the Congress legislators. The other names doing the rounds include P Sabitha Indra Reddy (Maheswaram), Vanama Venkateswara Rao (Kothagudem) and T Jayaparaksh Reddy (Sangareddy).
The TRS is keen on winning four MLC seats and help its ally AIMIM win the fifth, leaving nothing for the Congress as TRS chief and CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is keen on driving the Congress away from both the council and the Assembly. Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka came down heavily on the Chief Minister, describing him as a leader who is playing a detestable game, which is a descent into depths of political depravity.