Hyderabad: In a major blow to the TRS, Chevella parliamentarian Vishweshwar Reddy resigned from the party on Tuesday just days ahead of the assembly elections in Telangana.
Earlier last week, Congress’ working president in the state, Revanth Reddy, had openly challenged KCR to stop two of his MPs from joining the party before assembly elections.
Reddy, the richest MP from Telangana with declared assets of over Rs 528 crore, represents Chevella parliamentary constituency in Ranga Reddy district, closer to Hyderabad.
He is the son-in-law of Apollo Hospitals Group chairman Pratap C Reddy and his wife is Sangita Reddy, managing director of Apollo Hospitals.
Reddy announced that he was also quitting his Lok Sabha membership. In his three-page letter addressed to TRS president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Reddy alleged that the party was getting distanced more and more from the people which it had once represented and the government was becoming inaccessible to the people.
He regretted that the chief minister had inducted people who were against Telangana and the ideology into the cabinet and given them more power and prominence.
“I feel people who had fought for Telangana and shared a common ideology, including me, are no longer needed in the party,” he said.
The MP said he was powerless within the party, but he could not speak out or take action as he was bound by the party discipline.
Reddy is said to be upset with the TRS leadership for allegedly sidelining him and giving more importance to transport minister P Mahendar Reddy who hails from the same district.
Meanwhile, Telangana political circles are abuzz with discussion on who the second TRS MP to resign from the party would be, as was predicted by Revanth Reddy.