HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao started ‘Operation Akarsh’ again in his second term. Rao, ahead of biennial elections to Legislative Council under MLAs quota, started luring Congress and TDP MLAs.Two Congress MLAs Atram Sakku (Asifabad) and Rega Kantha (Pinapaka) on Saturday declared that they would join the ruling TRS soon. The biennial elections to five MLC seats are scheduled on March 12. The TRS along with its friendly MIM fielded five candidates. The Congress fielded one candidate.
However, with this sudden shift of loyalties of Congress MLAs will be detrimental to the prospects of the Congress in the Council polls. The lone Congress candidate needed the support of 21 MLAs. The Congress with 19 MLAs also pinned hopes on the support of the two TDP MLAs. But, two Congress MLAs joining TRS and the TDP MLA meeting Chandrasekhar Rao, the winning chances of Congress candidate Gudur Narayan Reddy are remote now. With two MLAs joining TRS, the Congress strength will come down to 17 in the Assembly.
“We have decided to work with KCR and join TRS. The decision is taken for the development of the State, especially Adivasis and Tribals,” Sakktu and Kantha Rao said in a joint statement issued on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, TDP MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah (Sathupalle) called on KCR at Pragathi Bhavan. According to sources, the TDP MLA too is expected to join TRS before the Council elections.
According to sources, the TRS is also in touch with several other Congress MLAs. The TRS leadership has already declared that around 9 to 12 Congress MLAs are ready to join the pink bandwagon. There will be more political surprises before March 12.Sakku and Kantha Rao recently met the Chief Minister at Pragathi Bhavan and discussed the issues of STs and the development of their segments. “When we met the CM, he assured us that all the issues of STs will be resolved. Rao assured us that he will tour our segments and resolve issues of STs on the spot.
KCR also gave a categorical assurance on the issues of tribals in the recently held Budget session of the Assembly. We believe that the problems of Tribals will be solved under the leadership of KCR, who achieved the separate Telangana state. That is why we have decided to extend our support to TRS and KCR,” Sakku and Kantha Rao said.
Meanwhile, when TDP MLA Veeraiah requested Rao to release irrigation water to Khammam districts to save standing crops in two lakh acres, the Chief Minister immediately instructed Chief Secretary SK Joshi to do the needful. Veeraiah too is likely to join TRS sooner or later.TRS is also trying to lure some more Congress MLAs to win all the five seats in the Council elections. Though, the TRS and MIM combined has the support of 98 MLAs, both of them fielded candidates to all the five seats.