The Telangana Congress Legislature Party has welcomed the outcome of MLC elections under Local Area Constituencies wherein the party won two out of six seats whose results were declared on Wednesday.
Addressing a joint press conference, Leaders of Opposition K. Jana Reddy (Assembly) and Mohammed Ali Shabbir (Council) described the election of Rajagopal Reddy from Nalgonda and Damodar Reddy from Mahabubnagar as the victory of democracy. “TRS has violated all norms to win the just concluded MLC elections. It lured candidates of opposition parties, openly bribed the voters and broke all traditions of electoral politics. Despite resorting to all illegal means, the TRS leaders could not influence the voters of Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar LACs which ensured Congress party’s victory on two seats,” Jana Reddy said.
Shabbir Ali said that the victory of two Congress candidates has renewed hopes on democracy in Telangana State. “Probably for the first time in electoral history of India, the Chief Minister himself called up the candidates of opposition parties warning them of dire consequences if they don’t withdraw from contest. Ruling TRS party used money and muscle power to lure or intimidate the Congress candidates and voters. While some leaders defected to the TRS, others bravely fought against the dictatorial regime of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao,” he said.
Congratulating Rajagopal Reddy and Damodar Reddy on their election as MLCs, Shabbir Ali said that the outcome of MLC elections could have been different if polling would have held in a free and fair manner. He alleged that the TRS has completely polluted the electoral politics while taking the Anti-Defection Law to ransom. (INN)