HYDERABAD: In a setback to the ruling TRS, Sama Venkanna (Venkat Reddy), who is also the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Minimum Wages and who has worked alongside Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar for the past 20 years, has joined the BJP along with 500 of his supporters in presence of party’s State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Sunday.
Speaking on the occasion, Sama Venkanna revealed that the breaking point came when he realised that all those who were against Telangana statehood and those who attacked Telangana activists were enjoying prominent positions in the ruling party.
Pointing out that TRS working president KT Rama Rao had been the honorary president of Telangana Pragathisheela Sangham, the organisation started by him, for 14 years, he criticised the State government for not implementing any reservations for locals in the private sector, which has been his long-standing demand.
“Every day, there is news about one or the other company investing thousands of crores in Telangana. The State government claims to have created lakhs of jobs. If those claims were true, then why would mechanical engineering graduates apply for a police constable’s job,” he wondered.
Expressing the hope that BJP would fulfil that demand once it comes to power, he said: “Bangaru Telangana would become a reality only BJP’s rule.” Navatha Reddy, former TRS Corporator from Chandanagar division of GHMC, also joined BJP, claiming that corporators were being treated worse than ward members under the TRS rule.
Krishna Naik, State president of the National Banjara Mission too joined the saffron brigade in the presence of former minister Ravindra Naik at the BJP party office in Nampally, which was flooded with new entrants on Sunday.