Hyderabad: 12 Congress MLAs of Telangana who merged with the TRS on Friday were defended by the party saying that they have done so keeping in mind their political future, and blamed the Rahul Gandhi-led organization for failure to keep its flock together.
The Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Thursday recognised the 12 MLAs as members of the ruling party, considering the fact that they constituted two-thirds of the total 18 Congress MLAs.The 12 MLAs include former home minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, D Sudhir Reddy, J Surender, Rega Kantha Rao, GV Ramana Reddy, Pilot Rohit Reddy, K Upender Reddy, Haripriya Nayak, Vanama Venkateshwar Rao, CH Lingaiah Atram Sakku and B Harshavardhan Reddy.
TRS spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan claimed the 12 MLAs decided to become part of the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led outfit because of the development and welfare programs of the government and "positiveness" of voters towards the ruling party.
"(These) MLAs are not school children. They have told the media that they have taken the decision because of the programs...welfare, good governance and positiveness towards TRS," he said.
Khan alleged that the Congress has become "leaderless and rudderless and is disintegrating not only in the state but also all over the country". Khan demanded Uttam Kumar Reddy to provide proof of any money or anything to the public domain or to file a complaint with authorities.
The TRS had won 88 seats in the 119-member assembly in the elections in December last year which increased to 103.
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