My defeat in Sangareddy, insult to Rahul Gandhi: Jagga Reddy

Hyderabad: Telangana PCC working president T Jagga Reddy announced on Sunday that he ‘will never contest as an MLA from Sangareddy in my lifetime’, as Rahul Gandhi came to Sangareddy for me and campaigned to help me win, yet I was defeated in the 2023 Assembly polls.

Addressing a public meeting in Sangareddy, he stated that ’even when Rahul Gandhi placed his hand on my shoulder, I felt that by inviting him to Sangareddy for an election campaign meet and asked people to make Jagga Reddy win, people defeated me, I might have insulted him .This is something I will never forget in my life. The reason for my defeat is not the poor, but intellectuals and the so-called elders here.’

Reddy said: “even if my wife Nirmala contests from Sangareddy tomorrow, I will not come here to campaign. I will campaign anywhere else in the state”. He further said: “Even when Rahul Gandhi stood beside me at this very Ganj Maidan, you defeated me; this is the same Ganj Maidan where Indira Gandhi once came. Even when Indira’s grandson came to Sangareddy for me and stood beside me, you still defeated me. I felt deeply hurt by that; I felt that I had insulted Rahul by bringing him to Sangareddy”.

Reddy pointed out that if a poor person takes a thousand rupees and votes, I won’t mind. But how can educated people and intellectuals take money and vote?

According to him, about six months ago in New Delhi, some people there reportedly discussed: “Revanth Reddy won, Komati Reddy won, but how did Rahul Gandhi’s man Jagga Reddy lose?” That made me feel extremely humiliated. I regretted unnecessarily calling Rahul Gandhi to Sangareddy, he explained.