Danam’s revelation about having portraits of leaders he respects raises eyebrows

Danam Nagender | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

HYDERABAD

On a day when the Legislature Secretary, acting on the directions of the Supreme Court, has served notices on 10 MLAs who have defected from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the ruling Congress after the 2023 Assembly elections, the comments made by one of those MLAs Danam Nagender in the Assembly lobbies on Tuesday certainly raised the eyebrows of political observers.

In an informal chat with newspersons on the Assembly lobbies, the Khairatabad MLA reiterated that he would continue to raise voice against the authorities who are biased in taking action against illegal constructions. He stated that he had not been compromising on the issues related to the poor even when Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister of combined Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Nagender said he has 173 cased registered against him for siding with the poor and fighting for their cause whenever the authorities acted against them in a discriminatory manner. He would not keep quiet if the authorities target only the poor and demolish their houses. There was no change in his approach on HYDRAA and its actions.

On his loyalty to the party (Congress) he said he has the portraits of YSR and KCR (K. Chandrasekhar Rao) in his residence as he has respect and fondness for the leaders. There was nothing wrong in having photos of leaders whom “we respect irrespective of our political affiliation”, he noted. His comments assume significance in the backdrop of his strong opposition and objections to the HYDRAA actions in the city, particularly in his constituency and his “blow hot, blow cold” approach with the ruling party leadership despite he being picked up by the Congress to contest the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat in 2024, which he lost.

The 10 mlas who have defected from Brs To Congress Include Kadiyam Srihari, Danam Nagender, Dr. Telangana Venkata Rao, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Dr. M. Sanjay Kumar, T. Prakash Goud, Arekapudi Gandhi, Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy, Kale Yadaiah and Gudem Mahipal Reddy.