12 TRS MLAs ready to join BJP, claims T'gana BJP chief

Hyderabad, Aug 4 (IANS) Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Thursday claimed that 12 MLAs from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are ready to join the saffron party.

He predicted that there will be a series of by-elections in Telangana soon.

He told reporters at Bhongir that like Munugode, many Assembly constituencies will see the by-elections.

He was referring to the recent resignation of Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy from the Congress party. The MLA also announced that he will also resign from the Assembly.

Rajagopal Reddy has already dropped hints that he will join the BJP and seek re-election.

Bandi Sanjay claimed that some TRS MLAs were preparing to resign from the ruling party as they feel that they will not have any future in the TRS government. "There are strong anti-incumbency sentiments among the people and some TRS MLAs are ready to quit the party," he said

The state BJP chief claimed that TRS MLAs were coming forward to join the BJP as they had realised there was a groundswell of opposition to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his family.

Sanjay, who is also a Member of Parliament, also claimed that the TRS MLAs will have no option but to quit due to pressure from the people in their respective constituencies.

The BJP state president exuded confidence that whenever elections are held, the BJP will come to power in the state. He claimed that surveys show that the BJP will sweep the polls.

"If elections were to be held today in Telangana, the BJP will win 62 seats with a vote share between 47 and 53 per cent," he said.

He said the growing public opposition to the TRS government will further consolidate the projected vote share of the BJP.

Sanjay pointed out that the BJP has won two out of four by-elections so far. He said by-elections to Munugode seat will decide the course of the state's future.

BJP, which had bagged only one seat in 119-member Assembly in 2018, wrested Dubbaka Assembly seat from TRS in the by-election held in 2020. The seat had fallen vacant due to the demise of a sitting legislator of the ruling party.

Last year, the BJP also won the Huzurabad seat. The by-election was caused by the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from the state Cabinet by the chief minister following allegations of land encroachment. Rajender later joined the saffron party and won the by-election.

After the two wins, the BJP has gone aggressive to capture power in the state. Bandi Sanjay is currently undertaking the third phase of his 'Praja Sangrama Yatra'.