Harish, Jithendar should be in Congress, says Konda Vishweshwar Reddy

Hyderabad: Chevella MP and Congress candidate Konda Vishweshwar Reddy said he would be happy if TRS leaders and performers like A.P. Jithendar Reddy and T. Harish Rao join the Congress.

He said the TRS usually sidelines performers and this had happened in case of Mr Harish Rao and Mr Jithendar Reddy.

He said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao asks for votes for him and not for the candidate. “This is undemocratic,” he said.

On defections from the Congress, he said leaders might have left but the cadre were still with the party. He said he would meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi to invite them for the campaign in the state. He said that they may campaign in the last 10 days.

Mr Vishweshwar Reddy said development was possible if the people elected an MP from a national party rather than from a regional party. He said he had visited all the villages in the Chevella constituency in the the last five years and covered 3.5 lakh kilometres.

Mr Vishweswar Reddy filed his nomination papers on Friday. He said, “Five years ago, when I filed my nomination, I had come with my wife and two sons. This time I had a sea of people accompanying me including people from different corners of the constituency, Congress workers and leaders”. He said he was confident of winning with a three-lakh lakh majority. He had won by about 75,000 votes in 2014.