Strange are the ways of Congress MLA from Munugode in Nalgonda district Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy. Though he has been with the Congress party officially, his mind is with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
But, he is not taking any decision on joining the BJP. And at the same time, he has not been taking active part in the Congress party programmes in Telangana, creating a confusion of sorts among his followers and party cadres.
In fact, Rajagopal Reddy was expected to join the BJP along with former Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy during the recent national executive committee meeting of the BJP in Hyderabad and attend PM Narendra Modi’s rally at Secunderabad.
But Rajagopal did not do that for reasons known only to him. There were reports that he had a secret meeting with union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi along with an MP in Jharkhand. Yet, there was no follow up.
On Friday, Rajagopal called for a crucial meeting with the Congress party workers in Munugode constituency at Chandur on Friday, where he was expected to announce his decision to join the BJP and also quit his assembly membership.
The MLA reportedly planned to collect the opinions of his followers and told them that he had all the blessings of the BJP central leadership. He was planning to contest the by-elections from Munugode.
According to sources close to him, the by-poll would help enhance the image of the BJP in the state and damage the reputation of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), while deflecting the TRS supremo’s K Chandrashekhar Rao’s attention from the national politics.
But for some strange reasons, Rajagopal Reddy cancelled the meeting at the last moment on the pretext that he was suffering from fever. This has once again created confusion among the cadres.
In fact, Rajagopal Reddy has been wavering in his stand about leaving the Congress and joining the BJP. At least on two or three occasions earlier, he had made his stand known that he would leave the Congress.
He, however, told the reporters later that he would stand by his decision he had taken in the past. He admitted that he had met Amit Shah recently in New Delhi. But he did not give any clarity on joining the BJP.
“I will be in the party which has the capacity to defeat the TRS and KCR,” he said, without mentioning whether it would be the BJP or the Congress.
