TRS MLAs 'poaching': Three 'targeted' MLAs were elected from Cong but jumped ship into TRS

TRS MLA “Pilot” Rohith Reddy who complained to the Telangana police about the poaching was originally elected as a Congress candidate

Of the four TRS MLAs who were allegedly offered bribes to join the BJP, three were elected on Congress tickets but switched loyalties within six months of the December 2018 Telangana assembly elections.

TRS MLA “Pilot” Rohith Reddy who complained to the Telangana police on Wednesday about the alleged inducements including the Rs 100 crore offer to join the BJP, was elected from Tandur assembly constituency as a Congress candidate. Harshvardhan Reddy from Kollapur and Rega Kantha Rao from Pinapaka too were elected as Congress legislators.

Rohith, Harshvardhan and Rega are among the 12 out of 18 Congress MLAs who officially joined the ruling party in June 2019.

In fact, Rohith was the last to jump ship, which allowed the break-away group Congress MLAs to avoid disqualification under the anti-defections laws.

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Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy conceded their request for a merger with the TRS as the defection number was two third of the total strength of the Congress MLAs in Telangana.

Then TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy had alleged that Congress MLAs were “purchased piece-by-piece” by CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, with his “ill-gotten money from contractors”.

Uttam, the Nalgonda Lok Sabha MP, had said that the Speaker should have disqualified the MLAs separately when Congress submitted the representation to him each time a defection took place over months.

With the addition of 12 Congress MLAs, the TRS tally went to 100 in the assembly. In April 2021, the TDP's two MLAs also officially merged with the ruling side.

On Thursday, TBJP senior leader and union minister Kishan Reddy said that the TRS which has erased the CPI, BSP, TDP etc parties' presence in the assembly by way of poaching and encouraging wholesale defections from the Congress “is now making baseless accusations on others.”

Addressing a press conference, the Secunderabad MP also played an audio clip of TRS working president KTR's reported call to a locally influential BJP leader asking him to join and work for the TRS victory in Munugodu.

“If we are interested in welcoming someone we will do it publicly through the TBJP joining(s) committee formed for the sole purpose,” Kishan said.

The Telangana Congress also criticised KCR's party. “TRS leaders say that the BJP is undermining democracy when it is public that the TRS took 12 MLAs from the Congress into its fold. Both the TRS and BJP are involved in ugly politics,” Congress leader in Telangana assembly Bhatti Vikramarka said.