TPCC general secretary Kuruva Vijay Kumar has expressed his strong opposition to the Congress ticket given to Sarita Thirupathaiah, a former Gadwal ZP Chairman who recently joined the party from BRS. He conveyed his displeasure to K. Muralidharan, MP and Chairman of Telangana Pradesh Congress AICC election screening committee in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Vijay Kumar stated that the decision to accept BRS leaders Bandla Chadrasekhar Reddy and Sarita Thirupathaiah into the party has made the entire Congress cadre in Gadwal district unhappy. He alleged that both leaders are close associates of BRS leader Minister Niranjan Reddy. Congress cadres who have been loyal to the party even in difficult times are upset with this ticket allocation.
Vijay Kumar mentioned that a complaint has been filed against Sarita Thirupathaiah for misleading Congress cadres by claiming that they have already secured the Gadwal Assembly ticket. She even went as far as publicly stating that Rs 5 crore bribe was paid to the Congress high command for the ticket. Vijay Kumar expressed the need for the Congress high command to understand the ground realities before granting tickets, as the BRS converts may harm the party’s growth.
Vijay Kumar referred to TRS MLA Balka Suman’s comments about BRS converts in the Congress party, stating that it indicates their intention to join solely to sabotage the party’s chances of winning in Gadwal. He advised Congress party strategist Sunil Kanugolu to thoroughly assess the past activities of these recently joined leaders. Vijay Kumar requested the intervention of the screening committee chairman to protect the interests of the party and long-serving cadre, and not to trust opportunistic BRS leaders who can switch parties at any time and cause significant damage to the Congress.
