Hyderabad, March 22: Much like its leadership, the rank and file of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in Adilabad district is currently nonplussed over the alleged cross-voting by its legislators in the elections to the council.
They are at a loss to understand the reasons for MLAs displaying disloyalty despite the existence of a strong pro-Telangana sentiment among their constituents.
Sirpur MLA Kaveti Sammaiah and/or Mancherial MLA G. Arvind Reddy are among the three TRS legislators presumed to have cross-voted during the elections (The former has since denied the rumours).
This is not the first time however that the loyalty of TRS incumbents in Adilabad has become the topic of debate.
About half way through the 2004-2009 Assembly term, TRS MLAs Soyam Bapu Rao (Boath) and Narayan Rao Patel (Mudhole) had developed estranged relationship with the party leadership. As members of a group of rebels allegedly aided by the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, they had gravitated towards the Congress.
After winning the 2009 elections on TRS ticket, both Sammaiah and Arvind Reddy were also rumoured to have become ‘friendly’ with the Congress.
But before they could make much headway in this regard, Rajasekhara Reddy died in an air crash.
While Sammaiah’s disloyalty to the party had remained under wraps at that point of time, the differences of the Mancherial MLA with party chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao came out in the open. The TRS had even gone to the extent of ‘trying’ Arvind Reddy in a ‘praja court’ at Mancherial town for his anti-party activities.
The revival of separate Telangana movement in late 2009 saw the legislator from Mancherial achieve a raproachment with Mr. Chandrashekhar Rao. He resigned his Assembly membership in tune with the party’s programme.
Nevertheless, not all were convinced of rediscovered camaraderie between Arvind Reddy and the TRS president or the avowal of loyalty by Sammaiah. “Had it not been for the commitment of the Telangana political Joint Action Committee, neither would have been re-nominated by the party to contest the July 2010 by-elections,” pointed out a party leader.
–Agencies