Telangana: Captain Lakshmikantha Rao entrusted to keep the flock intact

Hyderabad: In an attempt to ensure the cadre will not slip away from the party and join former Minister Eatala Rajender, the TRS leadership has initiated steps to maintain the flock and entrusted the responsibility of the constituency to Captain Lakshmikantha Rao.

According to party leaders, the leadership is not happy with the former Health Minister Rajender meeting with the party activists at his hometown and seeking their opinion. Suspecting that this would affect the party, the leadership swung into action and entrusted the responsibility to Rajya Sabha Member Captain V Lakshmikantha Rao to keep the flock together, informed a senior leader.

Captain has been in-charge for Huzurabad for a long time. Kamalapur has now become Huzurabad after delimitation. Captain was asked to vacate the Huzurabad seat to accommodate Eatala, who was Kamalapur MLA. Captain's son Satish was shifted to Husnabad constituency. Though he was reluctant to leave Huzurabad, he had to do so following the directions of the leaders. Captain's followers have now become the followers of Rajender.

Party leaders said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, instead of asking the Ministers to counter Rajender as it would get delayed, gave the responsibility to Captain Rao.

Meanwhile Captain Lakshmikantha Rao on Thursday said that there was no role of Eatala in the initial days of separate Telangana agitation. When the agitation was steadily increasing, he became the MLA from Kamalapur and later the former Health Minister misused his power and purchased assigned lands. "Both the party and the CM gave due respect to Eatala by giving him the post of floor leader, Minister and other portfolios. It is not proper to hurl criticism on the Chief Minister," he added. The Captain also alleged that Rajender encouraged outsiders in the party and ignored the local leaders.

The public representatives from undivided Karimnagar district have recommended suspension of Rajender from the party. It is not known whether the party would suspend and disqualify him as MLA as some leaders were planning to complain to the Assembly Speaker.