In another setback to the Telangana Congress, a veteran leader, Marri Shashidhar Reddy, has quit the party barely three days after he was expelled for meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
Son of former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Marri Chenna Reddy, Marri Shashidhar Reddy is expected to join the BJP soon. He is the latest among the senior Congress leaders to join the saffron party after A Revanth Reddy took over as the new PCC chief in Telangana.
The four-time Congress MLA from Sanathnagar Reddy sent his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi. He said the party was match fixing with TRS in Telangana and has failed to take on the role of Opposition in the state.
He blamed the party’s state leadership and those in charge of Telangana for his decision alleging that moneybags were calling the shots in the party. He said he had taken the decision to call it quits with a lot of pain for the betterment of Telangana state.
Congress has been losing elections since the days of Uttam Kumar Reddy as PCC chief, Reddy pointed out.
With the BJP seeking to expand in Telangana “borrowing” leaders from other parties Congress has proved the hunting ground for the saffron party. DK Aruna, who had joined the BJP from Congress prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, has been instrumental in helping Congress leaders to get in touch with senior BJP leaders in Delhi.
In August, Congress MLA from Munugode Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy had joined the BJP and fought the bypoll as its candidate. He lost but the Congress failed to retain its vote base and came third. The exit of senior leaders from the Telangana Congress seemed to be unabated and proves that contrary to claims by Jairam Ramesh the Bharat Jodo Yatra which recently passed through the state didn’t really rejuvenate the state unit and arrest its decline.