Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is on a poaching spree, ahead of the MLC elections in the state on March 12, with an objective of seeing an opposition free legislative council.
On Friday, the TRS president successfully poached Congress MLA from Nakrekal in Nalgonda district Chirumarthi Lingaiah, who is considered to be a close follower of Komatireddy brothers – former minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Munugode MLA K Rajagopal Reddy.
Lingaiah met the chief minister at Pragati Bhavan, the camp office and residence of KCR at Begumpet in the morning, along with education minister G Jagadish Reddy.
He will be officially joining TRS in a day or two. Lingaiah said he had decided to quit the Congress as he was not getting importance from officials being an MLA.
Five days ago, two Congress MLAs – Atram Sakku from Asifabad and Rega Kantha Rao from Pinapaka joined the TRS officially, stating that they were impressed by the pro-tribal policies of the KCR government.
According to sources, KCR brought pressure on Lingaiah through Jagadish Reddy to join the TRS.
Ironically, during the elections, Lingaiah fought against former MLA Vemula Veeresham, who happened to be a close associate of Jagadish Reddy.
The Congress MLA used to make strong comments against the minister and even alleged that he was trying to eliminate him.
The defection of Lingaiah is a big blow to Komatireddy brothers, but there is also a suspicion that he had decided to jump into the TRS only with the blessings of the brothers.
If the suspicion are true, even Komatireddy brothers might take a plunge into the TRS sooner or later.
