Hyderabad: TRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday accused the Congress of fielding a “dummy” candidate in the Huzurabad Assembly bypoll to benefit BJP candidate and former minister Etala Rajendar.
Rama Rao alleged that Congress and BJP had colluded to defeat the TRS, like they had done in Nizamabad and Karimnagar Lok Sabha seats during the 2019 general elections. Despite this, the TRS would win Huzurabad with a good margin, he said.
In an informal interaction with media personnel at Telangana Bhavan here, Rama Rao stated that he would not campaign in Huzurabad just as he had not done for the Dubbak and Nagarjunasagar bypolls.
He said the schedule of TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's public meeting in Huzurabad was yet to be finalised.
Rama Rao reiterated that the Huzurabad bypoll was a minor election for the TRS. "We defeated a senior leader like Congress veteran Jana Reddy in Nagarjunasagar. Is Rajendar a bigger leader than Jana Reddy," he asked.
Rama Rao took a dig at TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy, saying that he had fled the battlefield in Huzurabad even before the election notification was issued. He challenged Revanth Reddy to save the deposit of his party candidate in Huzurabad, and wondered why the TPCC chief was not campaigning in the bypoll.
Rama Rao said that he suspected Revanth Reddy's game plan was to induct Rajendar and former MP G. Vivek from the BJP into the Congress after the Huzurabad bypoll.
"Rajendar and the BJP have not accepted each other. Rajendar's supporters are saying ‘Jai Etala’. Why they are not saying ‘Jai BJP’ or ‘Jai Shri Ram’? Rajendra will shift to the Congress sooner or later," the TRS leader said.
He said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's entry into national politics will be at an appropriate time. He described the CM as a 'visionary' and leaders of other parties as ‘tele-visionaries’. On group politics within party, Rama Rao said this reflected the party's strength.
