Hyderabad: Bhongir MP and senior Congress leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy on Tuesday stirred a row in Telangana polity by saying that post the soon upcoming Assembly elections in the state, the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) will be forced to join hands with the Congress party as the result would be a hung Assembly.
“Nobody will win 60 seats this time. KCR has praised Congress in the Assembly. Congress is a secular party. BRS is a secular party. Who will KCR join hands with? Isn’t it only us?” he remarked.
The grand old party condemned the MP’s remarks and said that it will win a thumping tow thirds majority and that senior leaders should refrain from making such comments that would lead to ‘confusion among party workers. “There is no need for the Congress to join hands with anybody,” Congress leader Mallu Ravi said.
The Bhongir MP also announced his own yatra in the state on March 1. He said that senior leaders of the Congress are not able to come together on one stage. “Only winning candidates should be given seats. Doesn’t matter whether they are new or old,” he remarked.
Both the ruling BRS and the BJP overruled his remarks and expressed confidence that their parties will win sweepingly in the upcoming polls. “Congress party is not in the ring anymore.. that is why they want to join the BRS. Congress leaders who won in the past have joined the BRS. People know that if they vote for Congress, it is voting for BRS,” BJP chief Bandi Sanjay said.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in May last year and senior leaders of the party including TPCC chief Revanth Reddy had repeatedly denied the scope of forming alliances with anybody including the BRS in Telangana. “If next time anyone speaks of alliances, they will be expelled…no matter how big they are,” Rahul Gandhi had said.
