HYDERABAD: The TDP’s Telangana unit received a body blow on Thursday, on the eve of its ‘bus yatra’ in the state aimed at exposing the alleged failures of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Government, as three of its MLAs and an MLC decided to join the ranks of the pink party.
Among the defectors were key legislators from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Talasani Srinivas Yadav (Sanathnagar) and Teegala Krishna Reddy (Maheswaram), and Parkal MLA C Dharma Reddy and MLC Gangadhar Goud.
Another TDP MLA Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar) appears to be sitting on the fence, for now.
The four legislators called on Telangana Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao at his residence in the morning and confirmed their new-found love for the pink party. Soon after, Talasani and Teegala, long-time colleagues of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, spewed venom on him. “Naidu wants his son Lokesh to lead the TDP in Telangana as if there is no other leader in Telangana to head the party,” Talasani alleged.
Accusing Naidu of conspiring to foil KCR’s development plans, he said, “Krishnapatnam Thermal Power Plant is ready for inauguration. But it appears Naidu does not want it to be commenced immediately as he would then have to give 54 per cent of the power generated to Telangana.”