On the day former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao came out of his house to tour districts, his trusted lieutenant and Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari, along with his daughter Kavya, joined the Congress party.
He joined in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and AICC incharge Deepadas Munsi and DCC president C. Rohin Reddy.
Mr. Srihari, a seasoned politician having worked as a Minister in the Telugu Desham Party (TDP) Government in the combined State and also as a Deputy Chief Minister in the BRS Government in Telangana, was approached by the Congress a few days ago.
Though rumours of his entry into the Congress were doing rounds for over two weeks after he was approached by his friends in the Congress, the final nail in the coffin was his daughter Kavya opting out of the Warangal seat race after she was declared by the BRS leadership as the party candidate for Parliament elections. She claimed that none of the Warangal BRS leaders were supporting her and moreover, the party’s image slid with accusations of land grabbing, phone-tapping and liquor scam.
It is not clear whether his daughter would be offered the Warangal seat or the Congress would request him to be in the fray.
Mr. Srihari, earlier met his followers seeking their opinion on the Congress invitation and they extended support to him. In the meeting, he said his decision was based on the interests of the constituency and its development.
He also hit back at his detractors in the BRS party who demanded his resignation as MLA before joining the Congress. He suggested to the BRS leadership as well to deliberate why the party was losing support at the ground level after being in power for two terms.
In fact, Mr. Srihari’s selection as party candidate before the Assembly elections itself created controversy with the sitting MLA Rajaiah opposing his candidature. However, he was convinced to leave his seat to Mr. Srihari. To compensate for it, Mr. Rajaiah was made the Chairman of the Rythu Bandhu Corporation by the previous government.
Also read: BRS finds itself on same position as Congress did in 2018, 2019 polls
Srihari finds fault with KCR
Speaking to The Hindu a couple of days ago, Mr. Srihari found fault with BRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s attitude and his aloofness to keep the cadre away. “When the party was facing problems and leaders deserting Mr. KCR was sitting in his farmhouse without trying to infuse confidence. There was no coordination among the leaders in the districts and they are looking for other political opportunities,” he had said.
