JUNE 30, 2019 • THE WEEK 35we engage with them?”
Meanwhile, the BJP is upbeat about
its own prospects in the near future.
“Th e Congress is in the doldrums,”
said Ravula Sridhar Reddy, state BJP
spokesperson. “Th ose who want to
fi ght KCR are looking towards us. We
have emerged as a strong alternative
in Telangana.” He added that even
MLAs from the TRS are in touch with
senior BJP leaders. “It is only a matter
of time before leaders from other
parties join the BJP,” he said.
But, some are still hopeful that
it is not the end of the road for
the Congress. Political analyst K.
Nageshwar said that defections were
common when a party loses. “Th e
losing party will be vulnerable. What
matters is people’s support, and not
the leaders,” said the former mem-
ber of the legislative council. “In
Andhra Pradesh, 23 YSR Congress
Party MLAs joined the Telugu Desam
Party. Did it make any diff erence?
Th e YSR Congress registered a huge
win. In the recent general elections,
the Congress won three seats, despite
many party MLAs joining the TRS.”to be friendly to the TRS, became the
second largest party in the assembly,
with seven seats. Th e state, therefore,
no longer has a formidable opposi-
tion.
Senior Congress leaders took to the
streets, protesting against the speak-
er for not accepting their petition to
disqualify the “poached” MLAs. Th ey
had also approached the high court,
which served notices to the defected
MLAs. “Th is is a deliberate attempt
to weaken the spirit of democracy,”
said Dasoju Sravan Kumar, national
spokesperson of the All India Con-
gress Committee. “Th e TRS wants to
be as big as possible. When they have
a majority, what is the reason for pro-
moting defections? Chief Minister K.
Chandrashekar Rao is intolerant to
alternate views and does not like to
be questioned. He wants to establish
a dictatorial regime. Since there are
court orders on the defections, we
submitted a representation to the
speaker to disqualify [the MLAs]. But,
he played a dubious role.”
Kumar added that it was “sheer
opportunism” on part of the BJP to
lure its MLAs. He wondered how the
MLAs who plan to join the saff ron
party would fi ght the TRS when they
failed to do so while being in the
Congress, which had a strong struc-
ture in the state.
But, the big question is why are
Congress MLAs and leaders leaving
the party in hordes? Some political
analysts point out that most of these
leaders have business interests, and
therefore migrate to the ruling party
either to better their fi nancial posi-
tion or to escape future probes on
their establishments.
“If an MLA spends 0 20 crore to 030
crore on his election, he has to recov-
er or repay that money once he gets
elected. Th e defections may have
helped,” said a Congress candidate
who had contested the last assembly
elections. “Also, opposition party
MLAs are not taken seriously even
by a lower-level government offi cial.
It makes sense for them to cross over
to the ruling party and get the work
done in their constituencies and
keep voters happy.”
In a way, the inability of the Con-
gress leadership to stop the deser-
tions has been exposed in a big way.
A senior Congress leader narrated
a recent incident involving an MLA
who switched over to the TRS. When
the party got news that he was about
to join the ruling party, the high
command asked one of the leaders
to talk him out of it. “We called the
MLA, who said that he was literally
being kidnapped and forced by the
TRS leaders to join the party,” said
the leader. “His phone was switched
off for a few hours. In the evening, we
watched him on TV, fl ashing a smile
and standing amid the leaders of his
new party. If public representatives
behave this irresponsibly, how canSIT-IN FOR A STAND
State Congress chief
N. Uttam Kumar Reddy
(second from left) and
party MLAs protest
inside the assembly
against the meeting
between rebel MLAs
and the speakerChief Minister K.
Chandrashekar Rao is
intolerant to alternate
views and does not
like to be questioned.
He wants to establish
a dictatorial regime.
—Dasoju Sravan Kumar
National spokesperson,
All India Congress Committee