CPI MLA Ravindra Naik to Join TRS

S.R.Seshu

Communists are known for their staunch loyalty to their philosophy. Once wedded to a red party, they can’t be easily wooed by other political parties. Proving it a mere myth, the lone MLA from the Communist Party of India, D.Ravindra Naik, of Devarakonda Assembly constituency in Nalgonda district, is all set to defect to the ruling Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS). He is joining the pink brigade alone with Nalgonda MP, Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Miryalaguda MLA N.Bhaskar Rao and the industrialist sons of Congress stalwart leader Late G.Venkata Swamy- G.Vivikananda and G.Vinod (all from Congress) on June 15 in the presence of the Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao.
All of them announced that they are joining the ruling TRS only to help the government speed up development and be part of this process of achieving ‘Bagaru Telangana.’ “95 percent of my constituency people feel that I should join TRS…That too Congress is weakening due to internal squabbles which reached a peak stage in the recent past,” Nalgonda MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy, who was in Telugu Desam till before the last elections, said. Though he was not even a member of the party, the Congress fielded him as a candidate before the elections. Gutta is a close relative of the Congress senior leader and former Minister S.Jaipal Reddy.

Vinod-Vivek, who had joined TRS during the elections and went back to the Congress fold later, again made rapprochement with KCR to reenter the party. The brothers announced that they saw an opportunity for the development of Scheduled Castes, to which they belonged to, under the leadership of KCR. Venkata Swamy is known for his loyalty to Nehru family.

V.Hanumantha Rao, All India Congress secretary and MP (Rajya Sabha), came down heavily on these defectors. He alleged that the leaders are embracing TRS only to get their personal ambitions fulfilled.

Shocked by the lone MLA’s volte-face, the CPI State council announced Naik’s expulsion from the party. The party blamed TRS for “encouraging unethical political culture of defections.” The party’s State Secretary Chada Venkat Reddy sought for forgiveness of Deverakonda voters for the party MLA’s decision to defect to the ruling party.

Naik said that the TRS has taken up a number of programmes for the welfare of tribals, to which he belonged to.

Another powerful Congress leader from Nalgonda, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and his brother Rajgopal Reddy also toyed with the idea of joining TRS but the Congress high command intervened to stop them from doing so. Interestingly, all these defectors hail from Nalgonda, the Congress fiefdom and native district of the Telangana Congress Committee Chief N.Uttamkumar Reddy!