Setback to Congress: Senior Telangana leader D Srinivas quits party; to join TRS

Hyderabad, Jul 2: In a setback to Congress in Telangana, senior leader D Srinivas today quit the party and declared to join the ruling TRS.

Srinivas, who has served as president of the state Congress unit and minister in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, said he has decided to join the TRS to work for realising the goal of a 'golden Telangana'.

The leader, who had earlier held talks with the TRS President and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on his move, stressed that he is not joining the ruling party for any post or position.

Describing his decision to sever ties with Congress as a "painful one", Srinivas said he always got respect from AICC President Sonia Gandhi and that he would continue to have great respect for her.

"My wish is to see that the state develops as per the commitment (given by the TRS government) and that the weaker sections are empowered. I would like to contribute my bit for that. Definitely, this is a painful day for me. This is an unexpected development for me," he said.

He, however, took potshots at AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is also in-charge of party affairs in Telangana and AP.

Responding to a query on Singh's reported remarks that Srinivas's move to quit Congress is 'opportunism', the leader said, "I had a great opinion about him (Digvijay Singh) earlier. After I saw his statement today (in newspapers), he is a bluffer. How dare he say that he told me that it has been decided to give it (MLC seat in recent elections) to a woman?"

Singh lent his ear to those who carried various things to him, he alleged. The senior from Nizamabad district has been a loyal Congressman for several decades.

He has served Congress as PCC president when the party came to power in undivided AP under the leadership of late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in 2004.

PTI