HYDERABAD: Administering a rude shock to the TDP which is on death-bed in Telangana and the Congress which is in a run-down state, the BJP has landed five big fish from the two parties as part of its aggressive plan to emerge as a monolith to capture power in the State by 2023.
The leaders who donned saffron robes on Thursday were: Boda Janardhan, E Peddi Reddy, Chada Suresh Reddy (all from TDP), Shashidhar Reddy and Shaik Rehmathulla (from Congress).
BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao announced their admission to the BJP at a news conference in Delhi. Already Congress MLA from Munugode Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy has announced his intent to join the saffron party, as according to him, the Congress has no future in Telangana.
Boda Janardhan, a four-time TDP MLA from Chennur in erstwhile Adilabad district, served the State as labour minister.
Peddi Reddy also served as a minister in Chandrababu Naidu cabinet for labour and tourism. He was elected to the Assembly twice from Huzurabad, while Chada Suresh Reddy was elected to Lok Sabha from Hanamkonda in 1998 and 1999 and also served as vice-president of the TDP.
Shashidhar Reddy was Congress MLA from Medak between 2004-09 while Rehmatulla was president of the minority cell of the PCC.
For the BJP, arrival of the five leaders has come as a shot in the arm. It has doubled the enthusiasm of the BJP leaders who are already turbo-charged after winning four Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.
The BJP has already in its ranks senior leader from TRS A P Jithender Reddy, Congress leader D K Aruna, who had served as a minister in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, and former Congress MLC P Sudhakar Reddy.
While admitting the five leaders to the party in Delhi on Thursday, Muralidhar Rao said that times have changed and TDP and Congress leaders in both the Telugu states, particularly in Telangana, were looking at BJP with renewed interest as they know in their bones that neither of the party they were in now, would be able to give a stiff fight to the TRS.
The five leaders also met party working president JP Nadda before taking the leap. “The leaders who are joining us from other parties believe that BJP alone could emerge as an alternative to the TRS in Telangana,” Muralidhar Rao said.