Kept waiting for poll ticket, TRS MLA hits out at party

TRS MLA in the dissolved Telangana Assembly Konda Surekha, sulking over her name being left out of the first list of party candidates for the coming polls, Tuesday hit out at the party, alleging corruption, and promotion of "family rule".

Surekha, elected from Warangal East constituency in the 2014 polls, and her MLC husband Konda Murali had expressed dissatisfaction over her name not figuring in the list of 105 candidates for the 119-assembly announced by TRS president and Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on September 6.

Regretting that the party had not responded to her grievance, Surekha at a press conference Tuesday said she had invitation from several parties and would announce her future course of action in the next few days.

In a no-holds-barred attack, she made allegations of corruption and promotion of family rule against the TRS government.

Flanked by her husband, Surekha also accused the state government of having ignored late K Jayashankar, a professor and Telangana ideologue.

Surekha was Women Development and Child Welfare Minister in the Y S Rajasekhar Reddy government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh but resigned after his death when his son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was not made Chief Minister.

Later she joined the YSRCP. She contested the 2014 assembly polls as a TRS member.

Dismissing her allegations, TRS MLA in the dissolved assembly D Vinay Bhaskar claimed people would not believe such criticism against the Rao government which "works with principles, honesty and commitment".

It was TRS which gave "political re-birth" to Surekha and her husband earlier, he said.