TRS poaches Suresh Reddy

​Hyderabad: In a major setback to the Congress in Telangana state, former Speaker of Assembly in the undivided Andhra Pradesh and senior leader K R Suresh Reddy has announced that he would be joining the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).

Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao along with government advisor G Vivekanand and candidates of Armoor and Balkonda -- A Jeevan Reddy and Prashanth Reddy respectively -- met Suresh Reddy at the latter’s residence here on Friday and invited him into the TRS. 

It is a major setback for the Congress since it was trying to get back senior leader D Srinivas into its camp but the TRS influenced Suresh Reddy to join the party. Suresh Reddy has considerable influence in the two Assembly constituencies of Armoor and Balkonda. Suresh Reddy is likely to join TRS at Telangana Bhavan on September 12.

Speaking to media persons, K T Rama Rao said that TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao felt that the services of leaders like Suresh Reddy are needed for the progress and development of the State. He said that Suresh Reddy would be bestowed with the position he deserved.

Suresh Reddy said that the welfare and development programmes of the government should not stop. “In the development path, the ‘car’ is moving fast and in such a situation there is no need to change the driver. It would take time for the schemes to become fruitful,” he said . Reddy said that he and Chandrashekar Rao had worked together in the Assembly since 1989 and strove for creation of Telangana state.