TRS MLA Shakeel sparks rumours of defection

Hyderabad: In what could be a major embarrassment to the ruling TRS, party MLA from Bodhan Shakeel Ahmed on Thursday met Nizamabad MP D Arvind giving rise to speculations that the former is all set to join the BJP soon.

Political circles say that Shakeel, lone Muslim MLA from the TRS and a two-term MLA from the party, was one of the aspirants for a berth in the Cabinet that was expanded recently by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

Sources say that Shakeel was upset on two counts. One he missed the chance of becoming a minister and second he was denied an opportunity to meet the Chief Minister ever since his daughter Kavitha lost the Lok Sabha election from Nizamabad.

Shakeel is said to be among those leaders whom the TRS believes was responsible for the defeat of Kavitha in the elections.

The news of the TRS MLA meeting the BJP MP came to light only after Arvind shared his photo with Shakeel where the MLA was seen felicitating Aravind with a shawl and presented a flower bouquet.

This photo had gone viral on the social media. When asked, Shakeel said that he won the Assembly elections with the support of KCR. But some people close to the CM were misleading him and harming his political prospects.

He felt that it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay in the pink party under the present circumstances.

He said that though he has not yet taken a final decision, his quitting the party was not ruled out and the next best option could be the BJP.