Just two days after the efforts made by the party’s working president K.T. Rama Rao to douse the bickering in the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Kollapur constituency of Nagarkurnool district, differences among party leaders have surfaced again with renewed vigour on Monday with sitting legislator B. Harshavardhan Reddy making serious allegations and throwing open challenge at former minister J. Krishna Rao.
Four days before KTR’s Kollapur visit on June 18, Mr. Krishna Rao levelled serious charges against Mr. Harshavardhan Reddy, who switched over to TRS after getting elected on the Congress tickets in 2018 elections, by defeating Mr. Krishna Rao himself.
Mr. Rao charged Mr. Reddy with impacting the development of combined Mahabubnagar district by moving the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation project, which got the works stayed, he alleged.
“It’s because of Mr. Reddy’s petition in NGT that the project got delayed, denying intended benefits to farmers and others in the drought-prone areas of combined Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts. Can he disprove my charge,” Mr. Krishna Rao asked on June 14. He alleged that development had taken a backseat after Mr. Reddy became MLA, and challenged him for a debate on the issue at Ambedkar Circle, Kollapur, on June 26.
However, there was no immediate response form Mr. Harshavardhan Reddy’s camp as it was busy with the arrangements being made for KTR’s June 18 visit. It was during that visit Mr. Rama Rao went to the residence of Mr. Krishna Rao along with two other Ministers – S. Niranjan Reddy and V. Srinivas Goud – and tried to pacify the former, understandably with an assurance that he would be given due respect and responsibility in due course, and advised him to work for strengthening the party by dousing differences with Mr. Reddy.
On Monday, Mr. Harshavardhan Reddy countered the challenge of Mr. Rao and recounted the charges of corruption against the latter involving two banks. Mr. Reddy said he is ready to go to Mr. Rao’s residence itself for a debate on the constituency development if the former minister is willing.
Party sources admitted that Mr. Rao was seriously reprimanded by the leadership during the municipal elections as he had made party rebels, his followers, contest elections and even got several of them elected. His attempts to bring them into the party fold were withheld by the leadership after bagging the municipality with ex-officio votes.
“With the next Assembly elections slated just 17 months away, the chances of rapprochement between the two leaders are very thin. With a section of leaders of one particular community looking at one of the opposition parties to settle political scores with their opponents within TRS, the Kollapur-like scenarios are likely to be witnessed in more several other constituencies, although the leadership is trying to pull all strings to settle such issues,” a source in the party admitted.
