The Telangana Congress received a big jolt with two of its MLAs — Atram Sakku from Asifabad and Rega Kantha Rao from Pinapaka — deciding to join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
The decision was expected as rumours were doing the rounds that some MLAs, including these two, would shift loyalties to the ruling party ever since the TRS announced that it would field five candidates, including one of its ally, AIMIM, for the five MLC vacancies under the MLAs quota.
In an open letter, both tribal MLAs said they had met Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao recently to discuss issues being faced by the tribals, particularly of the podu lands, and he had promised them to ensure irrigation water to the lands held by tribals. “We are confident that the Chief Minister is working sincerely for tribal welfare and that is why we decided to support him,” the MLAs said.
They revealed in the letter that they would soon meet the Chief Minister and discuss joining the TRS. “We are also in consultation with legal experts and if there is a need, we will resign and contest on the TRS ticket,” they said.
They praised the Chief Minister for taking up the Sitarama project and said about 10 lakh acres in Khammam district would come under cultivation while Asifabad district would benefit with the Tummidihatti barrage. Moreover, the TRS would play a key role at the national level after the Lok Sabha elections as a coalition government was likely to be formed, they claimed.
The immediate fallout of their decision would be on the Congress MLC candidate, Gudur Narayana Reddy. If they vote for TRS and MIM candidates or abstain from voting on the polling day, Mr. Reddy is likely to lose unless he manages to woo a few MLAs from the ruling party, which is quite unlikely.