In an interesting turn of event, Rekha Naik, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA from Khanapur ST constituency, who was denied renomination has applied for the Congress ticket even before she joined the party.
A day after she was dropped along with six others by the BRS leadership, Ms. Rekha Naik, the first time MLA from the ST reserved constituency in Nirmal district sent in her application form to Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress party headquarters, in Hyderabad on August 22.
“Her PA took the application along with her husband Ajmeera Shyam Naik’s application and submitted the same to the Congress leaders in Gandhi Bhavan today,” a Congress source said.
Mr. Shyam Naik, the MLA’s husband had joined the Congress party on Monday night in the presence of the TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy and later met the AICC in charge Manikrao Thakre. Mr. Shyam Naik is aspiring for Asifabad ticket as the local MLA Atram Sakku, who won on the Congress ticket in 2018 had joined BRS and has been renominated in yesterday’s list.
In the meantime, the Congress leaders it is understood are waiting for a word from the MLA to join the party. “Actually, the MLA had sent word that she would arrive in the City on Tuesday and join the party. But, so far there is no confirmation,” a TPCC source said.
On the other hand, Ms. Rekha Naik told reporters that she has been dropped without citing any reason. “I aspired to a Minister in the BRS Government but the chance was given to another MLA, who had won three times. In natural course, I should have been considered but my plea was ignored,” she lamented.
The Khanapur MLA said that for the next two months, she was the local legislator and would take a decision accordingly. She also levelled serious charge that the BRS candidate Bhukya Johnson Rathod Naik was not an ST at all. She wondered how the party could give ticket to a non-tribal.
Congress sources said that the party may consider the candidature of only one among the two candidates. While Charulatha Rathod, a Lambada tribal and Bojju, an Adivasi are the strong contenders for the Khanapur ticket, it is to be seen whether the Congress leadership would consider Rekha Naik’s application.
However, the party may consider Shyam Naik’s application, if sources are to be believed. Presently there are no strong Congress leadership in Asifabad ST reserved constituency barring Kova Saraswathi, who happens to be cousin of the BRS candidate and former MLA Kova Laxmi.
