Former Telugu Desam Party leader Revanth Reddy joined the Congress on Tuesday, reported ANI. Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi was present as Reddy was formally inducted in Delhi.
Reddy had resigned as an MLA as well as from all party posts on Saturday. It was not yet clear why he had stepped down, but reports claimed that he had complained of being sidelined in the party.
However, his move to join the Congress was more or less expected. Rumours of him joining the grand old party had been doing the rounds for a few weeks. “People in Telangana are longing for political realignment,” he had even said in his resignation letter.
With this, the TDP now has only two MLAs while the Congress has 14 in the 120-seat strong Telangana Assembly. Some more TDP leaders may soon defect to the Congress, reported Deccan Chronicle.
However, TDP national spokesperson E Peddi Reddy said Reddy’s departure would not affect the party. “Such ups and downs happen in politics,” he told Mint.
Reddy is an accused in a cash-for-vote scam. The Telangana Anti-corruption Bureau had arrested him after he was caught in 2015 allegedly trying to bribe nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson.
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