NIZAMABAD: As TRS leader and former Nizamabad MP K Kavitha looks at becoming politically active again by contesting the MLC elections from the district, party MLAs and MLCs are doing everything they can to get into her good books.
For instance, Armoor MLA A Jeevan Reddy started to corner BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri on the turmeric board issue. In the 2019 General elections, the establishment of the National Turmeric Board in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency became a major political issue, leading to Kavitha’s defeat to Arvind.
Some TRS leaders reportedly celebrated this, and Kavitha demanded a probe into the matter. This is why TRS leaders are now displaying great enthusiasm to strengthen her leadership to forward their own political career.
After the LS polls, Arvind changed his stand on the issue — he said the Centre sanctioned an exclusive regional office of the spices board for Telangana instead. But this too did not materialise. Now, with the Covid-19 pandemic taking centre stage, the TRS leaders believe that the turmeric board issue would drag on for a few more months. They said they would question Arvind’s commitment and Jeevan Reddy plans on sending him a tweet, reminding him about his assurance to the people. Other party leaders, too, are following suit.
Cong accuses TRS leaders of horse-trading
The Congress on Friday complained to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana that the ruling TRS was violating the election code of conduct ahead of the Nizamabad MLC elections. The party alleged that Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy, Government Whip Gampa Govardhan and MP BB Patil were involved in “political horse-trading”. TPCC working president and Malkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddy, party leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir and candidate V Subhash Reddy called on the CEO and demanded that the Election Commission take stern action against the TRS leaders, including candidate K Kavitha. They accused them of luring MPTCs, ZPTCs, municipal councillors and corporators to win the MLC elections