Turncoat MLAs sulking over being benched by Cong govt

Hyderabad: It seems the 10 BRS MLAs who had defected to the Congress are sulking with Congress leadership as they are not being given priority in the government and also in the party. Senior leader from Hyderabad and MLA Danam Nagendar’s recent comments in support of BRS leader KT Rama Rao, another senior leader from old Warangal district Kadiyam Srihari and other BRS MLAs’ reluctance to visit Gandhi Bhavan gives an impression of all is not well.

The BRS MLAs had joined the Congress soon after the Assembly elections. The Congress leadership lured them with plum posts including ministerial berths in the state cabinet and as Corporation chairmen. However, even after the completion of one year of the Congress rule in the state, the BRS MLAs were not given importance either in the party or in the official functions conducted by the government in the districts.

Leaders said that Nagendar was losing cool after the Congress leadership declined his demand in induct him in the state cabinet. The defeat of Nagendar from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency in the general elections held last year could be one of the main reasons for not giving importance to the leader. Despite facing drubbing in the elections, the strong leader from Hyderabad was demanding for a berth in the state cabinet.

Another senior leader Srihari is also maintaining silence these days. He was expecting the Congress leadership would recognise his dedicated services to the party after his daughter Kavya won the Warangal Lok Sabha seat in the 2023 elections. “The sitting MLA Srihari is neither visiting the party office Gandhi Bhavan nor CLP office. He is confined to Warangal and is also not ready to meet any senior leaders or ministers who visited his native district recently”, leaders said, adding that it will be tough for Congress to bring the defected MLAs on the right path unless the promises made to them are fulfilled.

The other defected MLAs are – Arikepudi Gandhi (Serilingampally), Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar), Kale Yadaiah (Chevella), Sanjay Kumar (Jagtial), B Krishnamohan Reddy (Gadwal), Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Bhanswada) and G Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru) were also not ready to take part in the party programmes and government functions due to local political equations. “Fighting between the MLAs and local Congress leaders intensified ever since the BRS MLAs joined the ruling party”, a leader said and added that the state party leadership should intervene and resolve the leadership crisis before the start of the local body election season to prevent electoral damage to the party.