Defectors Denied Tickets by Congress Reviving Old Friendships

HYDERABAD: Congress MLAs from the city who defected to the BRS (then TRS) in 2019 are using their old connections with the grand old party to strike deals with those the party has denied tickets to.

Education minister and Maheshwaram MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy and LB nagar MLA D. Sudheer Reddy are two such leaders.

"Loyalists of Congress leaders are upset that their boss was denied a ticket. There is nothing wrong in trying to make a pact with them. For years we have worked together and we are utilizing our old connections," said a BRS leader from LB Nagar constituency.

The BRS candidates from Maheshwaram and LB Nagar have laid special focus on slums where these Congress leaders have a good presence.  

While the BRS MLAs are trying to make a pact, the aspirants, who have been denied a ticket, are holding meetings to decide on their future course of action.

As a part of the exercise, mayor of Badangpet Parijatha Narsimha Reddy, who made a futile bid for the ticket from Maheshwaram, is holding a meeting with his supporters in Balapur on Sunday.

Similarly, Depa Bhaskar Reddy and Congress in-charge of Maheshwaram constituency is holding a meeting in RK Puram ward.

After the Congress announced the name of Madhu Yaskhi for LB Nagar seat, Sudheer Reddy’s cadre started approaching the cadre of Lingojiguda Congress corporator Daripally Rajashekar Reddy and Jakkidi Prabhakar Reddy who contested from Mansoorabad ward on a Congress ticket. Both of them had hoped for the ticket from LB Nagar.

Both were Sudheer Reddy’s loyalists. Rajashekar was made Gaddi Annaram market committee chairman, while Prabhakar was given important party responsibilities in LB Nagar when Sudheer Reddy was in Congress.