Defections: Congress MLAs Stage Dharna Before Assembly

Hyderabad, March 3 (Maxim News): Rattled by the surprising decision of two party MLAs to cross the fence and join the ruling party, Congress party on Sunday convened an emergency CLP meeting in the city.

The meeting was attended by 15 MLAs of the party. However, two MLAs i.e. Upender Reddy and Pilot Rohit Reddy abstained from the meeting. The party leaders said Upender Reddy informed the CLP leader that he would not be attending the meeting as he was sick. However, there was no intimation from Pilot Rohit Reddy.

The party has 19 MLAs. Of this, two MLAs Atram Sakku and Rega Kantha Rao left the party on Saturday and decided to join the TRS. They also released a letter to the public on the issue. The CLP meeting has expressed its strong protest at the defections being encouraged by the TRS leadership. It has decided to hold a protest before the camp office of the Chief Minister at the Pragathi Bhavan. It also decided to teach a lesson to the Chief Minister in public court.

Later, the party MLAs, led by the CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy, held a dharna before the State Assembly and raised slogans against the ruling TRS. They also raised slogans of “Save Democracy”.

Addressing the gathering, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had come to power by committing several irregularities. He said they thought KCR would act as a statesman after becoming CM for the second time but they were proven wrong. Alleging that CM KCR was resorting to cheap politics by encouraging defections, Uttam said the Congress party acted in a modest manner by extending support to the ruling TRS party for the election of Deputy Speaker in a unanimous manner.

He also demanded that CM KCR disclose how much he paid to the two Congress MLAs to buy them. He wanted to know from the Chief Minister as to why he was making mockery of democracy. He also alleged that KCR bought the Congress MLCs earlier also. He announced that his party would hold dharnas on March 5 at Asifabad and Pinapaka Assembly constituencies in protest against the decision of the two party MLAs to join the ruling party. He urged the Speaker to declare the two MLAs as ineligible to vote in the upcoming MLC elections.

CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said democracy was “murdered” in the State due to the political game launched by KCR, which was an insult to all leaders. He said the Congress party would hold a Statewide discussion on the issue. He said all the MLAs would take part in a dharna to be held in Pinapaka Assembly constituency on March 8. (Maxim News)