hyderabad
Without wasting much time after the senior Congress leader and the first president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Ponnala Lakshmaiah quitting the party he was associated with for about three decades on Friday, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leadership sent a delegation to meet the former and invite him to work with it.
On the instructions from BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, a delegation of the party led by its working president and Minister for IT, Industries and Urban Development K. T. Rama Rao called on Mr. Lakshmaiah at his Jubilee Hills residence here on Saturday and invited him to join the BRS. Mr. Rama Rao stated that KCR had assured give an appropriate position/respect in the party.
Following the talk with BRS delegation, Mr. Lakshmaiah has agreed to meet Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday and stated he would spell out his stand and decision after meeting KCR. The BRS delegation that called on Mr. Lakshmaiah said that he would be joining BRS at the Jangaon public meeting scheduled on October 16.
The BRS delegation comprised MLAs Danam Nagender and S. Saidi Reddy, MLC Pochampalli Srinivas Reddy, party leader Dasoju Sravan and others. A large number of supporters of Mr. Lakshmaiah from his constituency also gathered at his residence. His key supporters were along with him when the BRS leaders called on him.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr. Rama Rao said the senior Congress leader had agreed to join BRS but he would announce the decision only after meeting KCR on Sunday. He stated that Mr. Lakshmaiah had served the Congress party for long but after the party had made cash-for-vote scam accused A. Revanth Reddy its State president, the senior leaders were being given short shrift.
He stated that Mr. Lakshmaiah had pursued higher education in the US in the 1960s itself and worked for prestigious organisations such as NASA as an engineer. He left his lucrative career and joined politics on the invitation of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and joined the Congress party in the late 1980s. The backward classes communities were given good respect in the party and he was also given due respect.
Mr. Lakshmaiah said senior leaders in the Congress were being insulted in a planned manner after Mr. Revanth Reddy had taken over as the PCC chief. He stated that he had decided to quit the unable to stand the repeated insults and discrimination being meted out the backward classes. He pointed out that Congress had lost many elections after Mr. Revanth Reddy was given the party reigns due to his attitude of not taking along all sections in the party and his one-upmanship.
