HYDERABAD: To the list of reasons why politicians sometimes jump ship in a hurry has been added Amavasya , or "no moon day" in Sanskrit. In Telangana , six MLCs apparently had a rushed entry into Congress at midnight Thursday to avoid making a new beginning coinciding with the moonless night of a new lunar cycle.
A senior Congress functionary who was privy to the plan to get the MLCs on board said they had been in contact with the party brass over the past few weeks. The switch ahead of a crucial budget session caught BRS off guard.
"Amavasya was starting early Friday and so the joinings had to be rushed. Even when former assembly speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy switched sides, it took everyone by surprise. These things are kept confidential until they happen," the Congress functionary told TOI.
Most of the six MLCs were with Congress before they switched allegiance to BRS. Some more MLCs of BRS could join the governing party soon, sources said.
Basavaraj Saraiah, one of the six MLCs to have crossed over, said it was like a homecoming. "Congress is my original home. It is a national party and we want to be part of it again and work for the development of all."
Congress's strength in the 40-member legislative council goes up to 12. The MLCs - Dande Vittal, Bhanu Prasad Rao, B Dayanand, MS Prabhakar Rao, Egge Mallesham and Saraiah - had assembled at a Hyderabad hotel on Thursday evening and were to go to chief minister A Revanth Reddy's residence to join the party.
The plan changed after Revanth got stuck in Delhi, where he had meetings with PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.
The MLCs waited in the hotel and rushed to the CM's residence the moment they came to know of his flight from Delhi taking off. Minutes after his return a little before midnight, the MLCs were formally welcomed into the party by AICC's Telangana in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi, Revanth and revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.
A senior Congress functionary who was privy to the plan to get the MLCs on board said they had been in contact with the party brass over the past few weeks. The switch ahead of a crucial budget session caught BRS off guard.
"Amavasya was starting early Friday and so the joinings had to be rushed. Even when former assembly speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy switched sides, it took everyone by surprise. These things are kept confidential until they happen," the Congress functionary told TOI.
Most of the six MLCs were with Congress before they switched allegiance to BRS. Some more MLCs of BRS could join the governing party soon, sources said.
Basavaraj Saraiah, one of the six MLCs to have crossed over, said it was like a homecoming. "Congress is my original home. It is a national party and we want to be part of it again and work for the development of all."
Congress's strength in the 40-member legislative council goes up to 12. The MLCs - Dande Vittal, Bhanu Prasad Rao, B Dayanand, MS Prabhakar Rao, Egge Mallesham and Saraiah - had assembled at a Hyderabad hotel on Thursday evening and were to go to chief minister A Revanth Reddy's residence to join the party.
The plan changed after Revanth got stuck in Delhi, where he had meetings with PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.
The MLCs waited in the hotel and rushed to the CM's residence the moment they came to know of his flight from Delhi taking off. Minutes after his return a little before midnight, the MLCs were formally welcomed into the party by AICC's Telangana in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi, Revanth and revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.
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