Hyderabad: Defection of people’s representatives might seem a very common thing where an MLA is offered something and he gets lured for it to switch sides. However, in electoral terms and competitive politics of the day, the decision to change the party is not so easy. Such a situation is being seen in Jagtial assembly constituency presently, after the sitting MLA Dr Makunuru Sanjay Kumar quit the BRS and joined the Congress on Monday.
Sanjay, who is a second time-MLA, has won the recent assembly election despite being surrounded by controversies. The first of those was the allegation of former Jagtial municipal corporation chairwoman Boga Shravani, who took everyone by surprise by leveling the allegations of harassment against Sanjay, and tendering resignation to the primary membership of BRS and as the ward councilor.
Shravani had joined the BJP in full fanfare a few days later, followed by hundreds from her constituency.
“My political career was disrupted due to MLA Sanjay Kumar’s conspiratory politics. I resigned as Municipal chairperson to protect my self-respect,” Shravani had stated while leaving BRS.
She had claimed that Sanjay Kumar was distancing himself from the party to protect his vested interests.
The assembly elections too pronounced a mixed verdict in 2023, when the sitting MLA Sanjay won the election with 15,822 votes margin against his nearest rival and the present Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy. Boga Shravani was left too behind, as she was 28,105 votes behind Sanjay to come third.
Shravani’s resignation had come at a time when the State government was poised to pass the resolution of Jagtial master plan, that was stiffly opposed by the farmers living in the peripheral villages and the locals from Jagtial. she had passed a unanimous resolution rejecting the contentious master plan of the town including six villages.
Sanjay’s entry into the Congress is not being welcomed by the activists of the grand old party. Even MLC Jeevan Reddy was known to be unhappy about the way Sanjay was inducted into the property without him being infoemed, and that too in the presence of Chief Minister and TPCC president A Revanth Reddy.
Jeevan Reddy was reportedly upset and was ready to resign from MLC’s post after the insult. His followers flocked his house after the sudden political development.
On the other hand, BRS workers, angered by Sanjay Kumar’s party-hopping, burnt the effigy of the State government in Jagtial against their leader’s party-hopping. Led by former minister Koppula Eshwar and ZP chairperson Dava Vasantha, the BRS activists demanded the resignation of Sanjay Kumar from MLA’s post after defecting to the Congress.
Sr Sanjay Kumar is known to have been a close confidante of BRS MLC K Kavitha, and a person who defeated T Jeevan Reddy in 2014 assembly election.
Born in Amthargam village of Jagtial, Dr Sanjay pursed his MBBS from Siddartha medical college in Vijayawada, after which he completed his MS in Ophthalmology from JJM Medical College in Davanigiri from Kuvempu university in Karnataka.
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