TRS, BJP leaders flock to Congress
Mayor Rammohan, ex-minister Danam Nagendar denied tickets
Giving a shock to TRS and BJP, several leaders from both these parties are queuing up to join the Congress. The TS Congress had expected dissident leaders from the TRS to join the party.
An MP, two MLCs, two former MLAs and a former MP are likely to join the Congress on September 12.
The two Legislative Council members who will be moving to the Congress are Mr Bhoopathi Reddy and Mr Konda Murali.
Former BJP MLA Nandiswar Goud quit the party on Saturday and met Congress leaders K. Jana Reddy and Shabbier Ali.
He is expected to join soon.
TRS MP D. Srinivas will be returning to the Congress. MLC Bhoopathi Reddy and former MP Nandiswar Goud are close associates of Mr Srinivas.
An open understanding with the MIM and internal understanding with the BJP have cost senior TRS leaders dearly in Hyderabad district.
Mayor Bonthu Rammohan and former minister Danam Nagendar have been denied tickets due to the TRS’s understanding with these two political parties.
TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced that the MIM is a friendly party and has denied any understanding with the BJP. However, his actions indicate that the TRS and the BJP may have struck a secret understanding.
Announcing the list of candidates, Mr Rao has not named nominees for the constituencies represented by the BJP, except Uppal.
Mr Rammohan has been working towards the Uppal ticket and has for the last three years has taken up several development works. During the recent Pragathi Nivedana Sabha, several TRS ministers and leaders congratulated Mr Rammohan and called him the future Uppal MLA.
In the candidates list, Mr Rao announced B. Subhash Reddy as the candidate from. The reason behind this is that Uppal was represented by the BJP's N.V.V.S. Prabhakar. The other four Assembly constituencies represented by the BJP are Amberpet, Khairathabad, Goshamahal and Musheerabad.
TRS leaders said Mr Rammohan was a strong candidate in Uppal and had fair chances of winning. He is still hopeful of the ticket from Uppal.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Rammohan said, “I am confident that the TRS high command will give me the Uppal ticket. At present, the party has announced a candidate but has not given him the B-form. There are chances of changing the candidate.”
Another strong leader from the city, Mr Danam Nagendar, who had switched sides from the Congress, has also been denied a ticket. In 2014, Mr Nagendar contested from Khairathabad as the Congress candidate and was defeated by BJP;s Chintala Ramachandra Reddy. In the internal understanding, TRS may field a weak candidate from this constituency. Mr Nagendar was the aspirant for the Khairatabad ticket when he joined the TRS.
In the past, Mr Nagendar was elected from Asifnagar constituency twice. The constituency was redesigned as Nampally during delimination and Mr Jaffer Hussain was elected to the seat from the MIM. This seat was Mr Nagendar's alternative and it appears that he may not get this as well.
However, Mr Nagendar was confident of getting a nomination.
“I am confident of getting a TRS ticket in the coming elections. I am ready to contest from any constituency,” he said. The TRS has not announced any candidate for Khairathabad and that ticket may be given to him, he added.