Amid speculation that the Telangana Working President of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Revanth Reddy may shift to the Congress, the MLA lashed out against his own party on Thursday.
Revanth criticised Andhra Pradesh Ministers and TDP MLAs, for according a grand welcome to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, when the latter had attended the wedding of P Sriram, the son of AP minister Paritala Sunita, in Anantapur district recently.
Alleging that several Ministers had struck a deal with KCR, Revanth alleged, "Sriram and TD MLC P. Kesav’s son-in-law are running a bar in Hyderabad, and they got a licence from the TS government to set up a beer manufacturing unit near Hyderabad."
“How can TDP leaders accord a grand welcome to the man who sent me to jail in the cash-for-vote scam?" he asked.
A Revanth Reddy was caught red-handed by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on May 31, 2015, when he was offering Rs 50 lakh to Independent MLA Stephenson to make him vote for the TDP-BJP candidate in the elections to the Telangana legislative council.
ACB, which had laid a trap on a complaint by Stephenson, also arrested Revanth Reddy's aides.
Revanth's defection to the Congress would indicate a major shift in Telangana politics, as he is one of the TDP's strongest leaders in the state.
While he did not directly accept that he was defecting to the Congress, Revanth told reporters that there was 'nothing wrong' with talking to the national party, as there were only pro-KCR and anti-KCR groups in Telangana.
“Congress leaders are in touch with me. I have to take a decision ultimately and will do so after meeting Naidu on his return from foreign trip," he later told ToI.