Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy on Sunday lashed out at Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and said that there was more democracy in the Congress than in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Speaking to reporters in Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad for the first time after officially joining the Congress, Reddy said that the TRS had witnessed a massive shift over the last four years, as their slogan changed from 'Jai Telangana' to 'Jai KCR'.
The senior leader, who was part of the Telangana agitation for separate statehood, had submitted his resignation letter to KCR earlier this week.
"The reason for my resignation is clear. I left the TRS not because I was not respected there, but because I feared losing my self-respect. The TRS has cheated the people in many ways and I didn't want to be a part of it as I had also made promises," he told reporters.
He also said that he was unhappy with the party's policies, adding that workers in the TRS were dissatisfied as defectors who had newly joined the party got priority over those who had been working internally for many years.
"The TRS which truly represented the people and the spirit of Telangana has lost its way. They became distant from the people and started working against the people. It was truly a people's party and now it has become a single person authoritarian rule. People's representatives, MLAs, and MPs don't have sufficient access to the Chief Minister and there is no scope for discussion and debate," Vishweshwar was quoted as saying.
Reddy also said that the Nizam of Hyderabad, though a feudal leader, was better than KCR.
"The Finance Minister doesn't know what is in the Budget as someone else writes it and hands it to him before heading to the Assembly. The Home Minister only learns about the transfer of officials from the newspaper. That is the condition of the ruling government today. Even we were cheated," he said, warning the ruling party that a wave of anti-incumbency was approaching.
An engineer-turned-entrepreneur, Vishweshwar Reddy is one of the richest politicians in the state and as per his affidavit filed in 2014, he owned movable assets worth Rs 171,72,69,324 and his immovable assets worth Rs 37,66,97,400. However, the total figure in his affidavit including his spouse and three dependents that he had declared, were Rs 478,90,70,310 and Rs 49,15,34,900 bringing his total net assets Rs 528,06,05,210. He had joined the TRS in 2013.
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