Hyderabad: In a major jolt to the TS TD, Ch. Malla Reddy, the party’s lone Lok Sabha member representing Telangana state, has decided to join the TRS. Mr Malla Reddy will meet TRS chief and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at his camp office at 11 am on Wednesday and convey his decision to join the TRS.
Speaking to DC on Tuesday, he said, “All the party’s leaders and cadre in Malkajgiri constituency will join the TRS along with me. With this, the TD will become non-existent in Malkajgiri. This is a unanimous decision taken by the TD leaders and cadre for the development of the constituency.”
Mr Malla Reddy added that they will formally join the TRS on June 9 at a public meeting in the constituency in the presence of the CM. Mr Malla Reddy, who owns a chain of engineering, medical, dental, pharmacy, management colleges besides schools in city, entered active politics just ahead of the 2014 general elections.
Though TD MLA A. Revanth Reddy vied for the Malkajgiri seat and exerted enormous pressure on TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu for the ticket, he opted for Mr Malla Reddy at the last minute.
Despite a new entrant to politics, Mr Malla Reddy defeated the sitting MP, Congress strongman and Union minister Sarvey Satyanarayana with a convincing majority.
Considered to the one of the richest MPs with educational institutions and function halls in the city, Mr Malla Reddy helped the TD and BJP register good wins in Assembly constituencies falling under the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency by spending heavily on poll campaigning and pre-poll management.
While TD won four Assembly seats — Kukatpally, Qutbullahpur, Secunderabad Cantonment and LB Nagar seats, BJP won the Uppal seat. Of the seven Assembly constituencies in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency, five were won by the TD-BJP combine and two, namely Medchal and Malkajgiri Assembly seats, went to ruling TRS.
Interestingly, three of the TD MLAs from Kukatpally, Qutbullahpur and Secunderabad Contonment have already jointed the TRS an only LB Nagar MLA R. Krishnaiah remains with the party, though he has been maintaining distance from TD activities for the last two years.
Mr Reddy said, “Telangana people believe that only TRS and KCR can build Bangaru Telangana. There is no space for any other party in Telangana. We want to lend our support to KCR in realizing the Bangaru Telangana dream and for the overall development of Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency.”
The constituency is considered to the Asia’s largest, and Mr Malla Reddy’s exit would cause immense loss to TD and BJP in GHMC limits, opine TRS sources.
