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Congress rattled as desertions begin
Cong rattled as desertions begin, Telangana Bill in Lok Sabha, Daggubati Purandeswari. The first among the union ministers to quit the government and party was Daggubati Purandeswari.
- Daggubati Purandeswari and husband quit, may join BJP
- Ganta, Erasu and TG Venkatesh resign and quit party
- Five other MLAs also announce moving out of Congress
Hyderabad: With a bleak future staring in their faces, the Seemandhra leaders including union ministers and MPs have started quitting the Congress party soon after the T Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The first among the union ministers to quit the government and party was Daggubati Purandeswari. She was followed by her husband and Congress MLA D Venkateswara Rao. It is learnt that both these two leaders are likely to join BJP.
The Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal who had said that he would quit politics if the bill was passed kept his word and resigned from the Lok Sabha and announced that he was retiring politics. Rajagopal was not only vociferous on the issue but also hit the headlines when he used pepper spray in Lok Sabha when the bill was introduced amidst din. His detractors claim that he had taken this decision as he knew that he cannot win the elections. After submitting his resignation, Lagadapati said "He is not fit for politics of this kind.
In the state, three Ministers- Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Erasu Pratap Reddy and TG Venkatesh, who were considered to be close to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy sent their resignation letters to the Governor. They resigned both from the party as well as the cabinet. These three are leaning towards the TDP to retain their positions in the ensuing general polls.
Apart from these leaders, five other MLAs who quit the Congress in protest against Lok Sabha's nod to the T Bill by Tuesday night are- U V Ramanamurthy Raju (Yelamanchili), C Venkataramaiah (Gajuwaka), M Srinivasa Rao alias Avanti Srinu (Bheemili), Panchakarla Ramesh Babu (Pendurthi) and Shajahan Basha (Madanpalle).
Of these five, Venkataramaiah and Avanti Srinu are the close aides of Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who are planning to join the TDP along with him, whereas the remaining legislators have also reserved their berths either in the TDP or in the YSRCP.
