Former TRS minister Eatala Rajendar joins BJP

More than a month after he was sacked from the Telangana Cabinet, former Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajendar joined the BJP on Monday, June 14, in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Rajendar had tendered his resignation on June 4 as the Huzurabad MLA and quit the TRS. Eatala joined the BJP in the presence of BJP Telangana in-charge Tarun Chugh, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy, BJP Vice President DK Aruna and Telangana BJP President Bandi Sanjay. 

Along with Eatala, senior TRS party leaders Enugu Ravinder Reddy, Tula Uma, Road Transport Corporation union leader Ashwatthama Reddy, and a few student leaders from Osmania University also joined the BJP. Welcoming him into the party, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan claimed that the national party will form the next government in Telangana, following the Assembly elections in 2023. Eatala Rajender was a senior leader of the TRS party, and has held top portfolios such as Finance and Health in K Chandrasekhar Rao-led governments in Telangana. 

Speaking at the ceremony on Monday, Dharmendra Pradhan said that Eatala has played a key role in the statehood movement for Telangana, and added that leaders like him will strengthen the BJP. He asserted that in Telangana, the BJP will be showing its strength in the coming future. 

On June 12, Eatala, formerly the Health Minister of Telangana, had resigned from the party after he was shunted out of the Telangana Cabinet over accusations related to land-grabbing. Addressing the media after resigning from the TRS, the six-time MLA had said that he will always stand with the people of Telangana and asked his supporters to back him. “This is a fight between KCR’s money and arrogance and Telangana’s self-respect. I urge the people to support me and wherever you are in the world, call up your relatives in Huzurabad and urge them to support me,” he had said. 

Read: Ex-Telangana Health Min Eatala Rajender meets BJP chief Nadda, triggers speculation

“I am a people’s man and I have always stood by the people irrespective of their caste, religion and region. In the future also I will stand by the people and strive for their welfare. I promise today that I will work towards the Telangana that we aspired and fought for,” he had added. 

Rajender had visited Gun Park in Hyderabad before tendering his resignation to pay his respects to the martyrs of the Telangana movement. He ended his Gun Park speech with a ‘Jai Telangana’ slogan. 

Charges against Eatala

Eatala is being probed by multiple state government agencies such as the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Revenue Department and a government-appointed committee to investigate land-grabbing allegations against the leader. It has been alleged that the Eatala family-owned Jamuna Hatcheries Private Limited and his followers grabbed government-assigned lands in Medak district and endowment lands in Devaryamjal in Medchal Malkajgiri. Recently, a third probe was initiated after a person from Ravalkole in Medchal alleged land grabbing by Eatala's son, Nitin Reddy. 

Watch: Prominent politician Eatala Rajender leaves TRS, what impact will it have?