Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA from Station Ghanpur and former deputy chief minister Tatikonda Rajaiah sparked rumors of joining Sharmila-led YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) after pictures of him meeting Brother Anil Kumar went viral.
Brother Anil is Sharmila’s husband and a well-known evangelist. Rajaiah is known to have met Anil several times, local reports quoted the YSRTP party cadre as saying. However, it was not revealed whether the meeting is political or religious.
However, Rajaiah denied the rumors. “It is true that I am affectionate towards YSR and his family. He had given me a ticket and encouraged me politically. But, I moved out of Congress because of Sonia Gandhi’s behavior. Though my political beginnings were in Congress, I grew in TRS,” Rajaiah said, speaking at Telangana Bhavan on Monday.
The MLA from Station Ghanpur also said that he would remain in TRS all his life. He said that the viral picture with Brother Anil is from a Christian meeting in the past.
Born in the Madiga community, later converted to Christianity, Rajaiah joined the TRS party from Congress in 2011. After the formation of a separate Telangana state, he was not only made the deputy chief minister along with Mahmood Ali but also was given the coveted health ministry.
He was sacked in January 2015, after allegations of corruption and irregularities in the appointment of paramedical staff cropped up. Ever since Rajaiah was lying low in the party.