Jolt to Telangana Congress as ex-minister Nagam quits

Hyderabad: In a jolt to the Congress party in Telangana, senior leader and former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy quit the party after he was denied ticket to contest next month’s Assembly election.

He sent his resignation to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. He said the party has done injustice to him despite the fact that he was responsible for strengthening the Congress party in Nagarkurnool, where the party had never won in assembly elections in the last 30 years.

“It is very unfortunate that a national party like Congress is revealing its vulnerability and conducting itself in an irresponsible manner. Hence I am resigning from the Congress party,” Janardhan Reddy said in the letter.

Soon after his resignation, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders K. T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao called on him and invited him to join BRS.

After the meeting, Janardhan Reddy told media persons that he will join BRS for the future of Nagarkurnool. He said he would work with BRS candidate Marri Janardhan Reddy in Nagarkurnool.

Janardhan Reddy was upset with the Congress leadership after he was denied ticket. He had lashed out at Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy.

The Congress has named K. Rajesh Reddy as its candidate. Son of BRS MLA K. Damodar Reddy, Rajesh had joined Congress party recently.

Nagam Janardhan Reddy had criticised the party’s decision to give tickets to turncoats while ignoring those who have been serving the party for a long time.

A six-time MLA from Nagarkurnool, he had alleged that the Congress party was being destroyed in the state by misleading the central leadership of the party.

Nagam Janardhan Reddy had quit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join Congress before the 2018 elections. The former minister, who was elected from Nagarkurnool for five consecutive terms, lost the 2018 election to BRS candidate Marri Janardhan Reddy.