Why didn't BRS with 38 MLAs contest in RS elections: Bandi Sanjay

Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar questioned why the BRS party with 38 MLAs did not nominate its candidate to the Rajya Sabha elections.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, he said that BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao did not announce the BRS candidate as a reward for the efforts of Congress leader and Supreme Court advocate Ahishek Manu Singhvi for his efforts in the court to get Kavitha bail in the liquor scam case, and termed Singhvi as the common candidate for BRS and Congress.

The Minister attended the state-level workshop of BJP's membership drive on Wednesday, and said, as per the directions of the BJP chief JP Nadda, "We have decided to register large-scale membership in Telangana under the leadership of state party chief G Kishan Reddy."

“All the BJP leaders and workers are enthusiastic about the membership drive. The popularity of the BJP has increased in Telangana and people are waiting for massive membership registration,” he said.

Referring to Singhvi, he said, the leader contesting as a Congress Rajya Sabha candidate had made concerted efforts to present arguments in the court on the bail petition, to get bail for KCR's beloved daughter and BRS MLC K Kavitha. This made Singhvi to be announced as the Congress candidate on KCR's suggestion, he said.

"Today is the last day for Rajya Sabha nominations. Why did the BRS party with 38 MLAs not announce their candidate? The BJP has only eight MLAs, so we could not compete. But, BRS should answer why it is not contesting,” he said.

The Karimnagar MP said that BRS would have won the Rajya Sabha seat if they had contested, because there was a large scale of cross-voting among Congress members. “According to our information, around 10 Congress MLAs are in touch with KCR. Yet, the BRS chief chose not to contest. The Rajya Sabha candidate contesting on behalf of Congress is a joint candidate of the BRS and Congress parties,” he said.

On the issue of HYDRA raids and demolitions, Sanjay Kumar said that the motivation behind all this was for collections. "The HYDRA's ‘danda’ is meant for collections to fund Congress in the ensuing Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections,” he alleged.