Unable to keep pace with TRS, Congress boycotts MLC polls

Hyderabad: As a mark of strong protest to poaching of its MLAs by ruling TRS ahead of the biennial elections to five MLC posts scheduled on Tuesday, Telangana Congress had announced boycotting the elections.

TPCC president N Uttam Kuamr Reddy has taken the decision to stay away from the elections at a time when TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was holding a meeting with his party MLAs to finalise the party strategy in the MLC and the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Congress had fielded TPCC treasurer G Narayana Reddy as its candidate.

On behalf of TRS, four leaders including Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali, and Satyavathi Rahtod, S Subhash Reddy and E Mallesham. The ruling party is extending support to AIMIM candidate in the election. Three Congress legislators - R Kantha Rao, Atram Sakku and Haripriya Naik –already announced switching to TRS. Another senior Congress leader and MLA P Sabitha Indra Reddy is likely to join the TRS soon.

TDP MLA S Venkata Veeraiah is also ready to join the ruling party as he met KCR recently. After the switching over of the three Congress MLAs to TRS and the TDP MLAs decision to support the ruling party, Congress had lost the required strength of 21 members to win the MLC post. Uttam Kumar said that KCR was ruling the state like a dictator by intimidating the opposition party legislators and leaders.

He said that the TRS is playing 'mind game' to demoralise the Congress leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. People will teach a befitting lesson to the TRS in the general elections, he added. Meanwhile, Assembly Secretary and Returning officer in the MLC elections V Narasimha Charyulu said that the polling will begin at the Committee Hall in the Assembly at 9 am and ends at 4 pm. Counting of votes will begin at 5 pm. The results will be declared on completion of the counting process. Necessary arrangements were already made in the VIP zone in the Assembly.