Hyderabad: Kasoju Shankaramma, mother of Kasuju Srikanth Chari, the first martyr of the last-leg of the Telangana statehood movement, quit the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and joined the Congress in the presence of her former political rival and state civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday.
Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan after wearing the Congress ‘Khanduva’ (tri-coloured scarf), she claimed that injustice was done to her family by the BRS. “It was the ultimate sacrifice made by my son Srikanth, which had prompted UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to create Telangana state. I urge one and all to vote for Congress in the General Elections,” she said
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that though Shankaramma had contested against him on a BRS in the past, there were no ill-feelings between them. He said that BRS has almost been wiped-out of Huzurnagar constituency in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha segment. Uttam Kumar had won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He predicted the Congress to get 13 seats for sure, but said the target given by the high command was 15. He felt that his party’s contest will be primarily against BJP in three segments, and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in one segment (Hyderabad).
Speaking on paddy procurement in Telangana, he said that 25 lakh tonne paddy has already been procured across the state, and that the ruling Congress government will buy paddy dampened by rains, and that it will come to the rescue of farmers who have suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rains.
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