Rajaiah sets tongue wagging as he meets Congress leader

Warangal: The sitting MLA Thatikonda Rajaiah continues to hog the limelight ever since the supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao refused to field him again from the Station Ghanpur.

It may be mentioned here that KCR who denied the Station Ghanpur ticket to Rajaiah replaced him with Kadiyam Srihari. Initially, the visibly shaken Rajaiah said that he would abide by KCR’s dictum; however, he seems to have hopes of getting the ticket back based on the words of KCR who kept the option of changing the candidates at any time before issuing the B –form.

Although Rajaiah said that he would not cross party line, he had made some interesting comments that raised many eyebrows over his commitment towards his party. Moreover, a section of BRS cadres took out a huge rally, demanding the party leadership to renominate Rajaiah from Station Ghanpur. Rajaiah’s alleged meeting with former minister and senior Congress leader Damodara Raja Narasimha on Monday also kept the tongues wagging that he must be planning ‘ghar wapsi’.

“The duo met during a Dalit intellectuals’ meeting in Hanumakonda on Monday and nothing more than that. Some people with vested interests cooked up a story and it was blown out of proportion. In fact, Rajaiah was an uninvited guest to that meeting,” a senior Congress leader, who is close to Damodara Raja Narasimha, told The Hans India.

Against this backdrop, Chief Whip D Vinay Bhaskar on Tuesday closeted with Rajaiah and tried to convince him not to leave the party. In response, Rajaiah told him that he had just attended Dalit intellectuals’ meeting to extend his solidarity and nothing more than that. Further, Rajaiah asserted that he was not interested in raising a banner of revolt against the party, it’s learnt. Vinay told Rajaiah not to take any hasty decision as the party leadership will give him a suitable position.