In a shot in the arm for TRS, senior TDP leader K Hareeshwar Reddy joined the party today. The veteran TDP MLA formally joined the TRS at a mammoth public meeting organized at Parigi today.
Reddy had been staying away from TDP for quite some time on account of its ambivalent stance on the separate statehood issue.
At the Parigi meeting, the TRS president hit out at former Chief Ministers N Chandrababu Naidu and the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy for doing injustice to Telangana. “The two exploited Telangana for political gains,” Rao said.
KCR said that the people of the region need Telangana Rajyam and not Rajanna Rajyam or Chandranna Rajyam.
KCR explained that the ruling Congress did not accept separate Telangana demand despite an offer to merge his party with Congress, and added that the separate state should now be achieved by “commanding” and not by requesting.
Telangana should have its strong political identity to make Centre accept the statehood demand, he said.
Rao also said the Kiran Kumar Reddy government was on edge in the wake of withdrawal of support by MIM and it would fall if only five MLAs switched sides.