Congress MLC Jeevan Reddy raises concern over defections into the party

Senior Congress leader and MLC T. Jeevan Reddy addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: By arrangement

Senior Congress leader and MLC T. Jeevan Reddy condemned the defection of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs to the Congress, accusing them of following the same questionable principles as the “discredited KCR government”. He expressed concern that Congress workers in these constituencies were feeling abandoned.

In a letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, which he shared at a press conference on Thursday, Mr.Reddy recalled the recent murder of his close associate and senior Congress leader Maru Ganga Reddy, allegedly by Bathini Santosh, who defected to the Congress alongside BRS MLA Sanjay Kumar in Jagtial.

He said this incident of a Congress loyalist has shocked the entire Jagtial District Congress cadre. Moreover, it was also shattering for a person like him who protected and stood by the party for the past four decades, he said, adding that he was going through extreme disappointment and mental agony.

Mr. Reddy said former Speaker and BRS MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy was leading these defectors and that it was the latter who approved the defection of Congress MLAs into the BRS in the last term too and was instrumental in divesting Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka as Leader of the Opposition.

Mr.Jeevan Reddy questioned the encouragement of defections from the BRS when the Congress enjoyed total majority with a CPI member supporting the government and seven members of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) remaining neutral. Even in the case of BRS and BJP trying to overthrow the government, the MIM would not side with the BRS, he said.

Mr. Reddy thanked the national leadership for standing by him when he had opposed the entry of Sanjay Kumar into Congress. “The leadership assured me personally that steps would be taken to keep my honour and respect intact in the party,” he said, adding that somehow he was disturbed by the recent murder of his follower.

He further said that intellectuals and democratic-minded people are surprised that the Congress was going the same way that former chief minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao had taken in encouraging defections.