In a major political decision, the Opposition Congress has decided to boycott the polling for five MLC seats in the MLAs’ quota in Telangana scheduled on Tuesday, protesting against the “brazen violation of the Constitution and democratic norms by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)”.
The party has fielded its candidate for one of the five seats by picking up Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) treasurer Guduru Narayana Reddy, while the TRS has fielded four and its ally All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) one.
Perhaps, it is for the first time in the annals of Congress in the State, including the erstwhile combined Andhra Pradesh, that the party is boycotting an MLC election.
The decision to boycott the polling was announced by TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Congress Legislature Party leader M. Bhatti Vikramarka here on Monday. “When a Chief Minister who has taken oath swearing by the Constitution is himself encouraging defections, there is no sanctity left in the system,” they stated.
The main Opposition party’s decision follows defection of four of its legislators – Athram Sakku, Rega Kantha Rao, Chirumarthi Lingaiah and Banoth Haripriya Naik.
The four legislators expressed their desire to join the ruling party “attracted by the vision of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the State and development of their constituencies” by holding press conferences during the last 10 days.
Another senior legislator of Congress P. Sabitha Indra Reddy is also reportedly sitting on the fence, but the TPCC leadership is still hopeful that she would remain with the party that had given her proper recognition when in power. “Ms. Reddy would not leave Congress and the reports about her plans to switch over to the TRS are only a media speculation,” the TPCC chief said.
The Congress party has fielded its candidate for one MLC seat in the MLAs’ quota with the hope that it has sufficient numbers – 19 Congress members and two TDP members elected to the Assembly as part of the pre-poll alliance – and the numbers would remain intact. However, after the switching over of four of its legislators and one from TDP, Sandra Venkata Veeraiah, the numbers banked on by the party have depleted much below the required figure of 21.
The TPCC leaders said they would make it a national issue by taking to the notice of all parties for a debate apart from a constitutional approach by complaining to the Speaker and knocking the doors of courts in case there was no action by the Speaker. “The larger threat is to Telangana society and democracy since Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao is trying to create a situation where there is no Opposition in the State, either by luring or by coercing the other parties’ members,” Mr. Vikramarka said.