Former TRS MP Narsiah Goud joins BJP

Hyderabad, Oct 19 (IANS) Four days after resigning from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), former MP B. Narsaiah Goud on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Goud formally joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders at BJP's headquarters in New Delhi.

Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav and BJP General Secretary and incharge for Telangana, Tarun Chug welcomed the former MP into the party. Union Tourism and Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Telangana BJP President Bandi Sanjay Kumar were also present.

Some other TRS leaders also joined the BJP along with Goud. The former MP from Bhongir said he would continue to work for the development of the state and for the welfare of its people. He claimed that he ensured many development works in Bhongir constituency.

Goud told reporters that he has dedicated his life for the development of the country and the state.

He had resigned from TRS on October 19, dealing a blow to the party ahead of the November 3 polling for the Munugode Assembly byelection.

Goud had a meeting with the BJP leaders in New Delhi before making up his mind to switch over. He was an aspirant for the TRS ticket in the byelection. Interestingly, he participated in the nomination filing of TRS candidate Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy on October 13.

Associated with the TRS from the days of the statehood movement after 2009, Goud was in-charge of the party affairs in Bhongir parliamentary constituency. Munugode is one of the Assembly segments under Bhongir constituency.

Goud was among few TRS leaders who were aspiring from Munugode but the leadership fielded Prabhakar Reddy, who won the seat in 2014, and lost it in 2018.

Goud's joining the BJP is likely to give boost to the BJP's efforts to garner votes of Goud community, to which he belongs.

In his resignation letter to TRS President and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, he said he had been facing insults within the party, including denial of any opportunity even to represent problems of people as also general issues harming the party.

Goud also recalled that he left his practice as a doctor to take part in the statehood movement under the leadership of Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) of which the TRS was a major partner.

He wrote that as Bhongir MP, he spared all his energies to get sanctioned AIIMS, a Kendriya Vidyalaya, several National Highways and other development works.

He blamed bickering in the party and an election symbol similar to that of the TRS for his defeat by a slender margin in the 2019 Parliament elections.