Iftar becomes witness to political realignments in ruling TRS

Warangal: Iftar in Warangal (East) Assembly constituency in this Ramzan season has become the rostrum for political realignments in ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

The warring factions of the TRS in the constituency have chosen hosting Iftar as a means to come together. And it is meant to target their arch rivals, local sitting MLA Konda Surekha and her husband, MLC Konda Muralidhar Rao.

The Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) Mayor N Narender, party leader Errabelli Pradeep Rao and former Minister Baswaraju Saraiah, who have been maintaining distance from each other for some time, are now rubbing shoulders with each other.

They all come together at an Iftar, hosted by the Mayor on last Saturday, with the Mayor extending a special invitation to Pradeep Rao and Saraiah. Their new-found friendship is an interesting phenomenon in view of the fact that they are all aspirants for Warangal (East) Assembly ticket in
next elections.

According to the sources in the party, the trio displayed camaraderie following the directions reportedly given by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who wanted to rein in the Konda couple, who of late have become the centre of controversy with their bid to get Bhupalpally Assembly ticket for their daughter in next polls. That is why all the three, who seldom found on a single platform, joined the Iftar.

Here the comments made by Mayor Narender are of great significance. He said, “Warangal East has been overwhelmed by some evil forces and wanted the Muslim clerics to provide taweez (Amulet) to get rid of such forces.”

Rumours are abuzz among the party leaders and cadre in the constituency that the evil forces the Mayor referred to, are said to be an indirect reference to the Konda couple. And that he wanted to get rid of them.

In a due retort, MLA Surekha on Tuesday hit back at the trio saying “Some leaders are playing politics in the guise of Iftar. But the public in the constituency are with us and we work for them,” at an Iftar party the couple hosted in Warangal.

She went on to add that ‘The leaders, who never hosted an Iftar in the past on their own, are now intending to make use of the occasion as the
Assembly elections are nearing’. “The public trust us more than they trust any minister in the district and approaches us to get their works done,” she added.

The fight for the ticket has been making the TRS cadre in the constituency perplexed. It has become tough to take a side as none is aware of what happens next in this political game, worried a TRS leader in the constituency.