Defectors succeed in grabbing tickets

Hyderabad: Forget loyalty to party, commitment to the cause and affinity towards ideology; political parties in Andhra Pradesh have been indulging in the game of poaching on rival camps and giving tickets to last-minute turncoats, ignoring genuine and committed aspirants of their own parties.

Never in the past did the State witness election-eve defections on such a massive scale as it is happening now. Ideological commitment, loyalty and public accountability have taken a backseat as leaders of various political hues are crossing over the fence with amazing alacrity and ease.

Securing ticket to contest the election seems to be the only agenda for the turncoats.The political aftermath of bifurcation has also altered the situation to a great extent, leaving the political leaders with not many options.

As the deadline for filing nominations draws closer, there is a scramble among the aspirants to secure tickets, no matter which party gives them. There have been instances of sitting MLAs and senior leaders shifting loyalties several times within 24 hours.

While the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which is hoping to form the first government in the new state of Telangana, is leading in this game of rewarding turncoats ignoring committed Telangana activists, its rival parties ' the Congress, the TDP and even the BJP are no exception in this murky game.

The TRS has virtually rolled out a red carpet for turncoats from other parties. The party has rewarded several defectors with tickets to contest the coming elections. The disgruntled leaders from others parties have switched over to the TRS in the last-minute and managed to get tickets.

They include two Communist leaders who were denied tickets by their respective parties -- B Chandravati, the sitting CPI MLA from Wyra constituency in Khammam district and Nomula Narasimhaiah, a veteran former CPI (M) legislator.

Both of them met TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday and secured the TRS tickets from Wyra and Nagarjunasagar Assembly constituencies respectively.

TDP leader Toom Bheemsen, who contested Malkajgiri Lok Sabha in 2009, joined the TRS and is now being fielded from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Similarly TDP MLA from Medak Mynampally Hanumanth Rao, changed three parties in as many days and finally settled down for the TRS.

Mynampally on Sunday had rubbished that he was changing the party and claimed some leaders were deliberately spreading rumours on this but the very next day he joined the Congress. After failing to secure party ticket, he shifted his loyalty to the TRS on Tuesday along with four corporators.

Hyderabad Market Committee chairman and Congress leader M Rammohan Goud, who has been a close associate of union minister Sarve Satyanarayana, also defected to the TRS on Tuesday and managed to get the ticket for LB Nagar Assembly seat.

According to sources, the TRS chief deliberately delayed announcement of the candidates' list only to poach leaders from other parties. The TRS could not complete the list even by Tuesday evening, though the last date for filing nominations is April 9.

Scores of turncoats made a beeline to the TRS in the last 24 hours. The TDP leaders who joined TRS in the last few weeks include P Mahender Reddy of Tandur, KS Ratnam of Chevella, S Jaipal Yadav of Kalwakurthy and P Babu Mohan from Andole and they were all rewarded with tickets.The Congress too is not lagging behind in this game as the party too has poached on TRS leaders.

First, the party admitted G Vijayarama Rao and A Chandrashekar of TRS even while back-channel talks for alliance were on. Later, the party included Mancherial MLA Gaddam Aravind Reddy even as several eyebrows were raised in the TRS camp.

Then, the Congress inducted Medak MP Vijayashanti and gave her ticket for Medak Assembly seat.And the latest entrants into Congress camp were Peddapalli MP G Vivek and his brother G Vinod Kumar.

Puvada Ajay was given ticket from Khammam Assembly, who was the YSRCP in-charge of the district.The BJP, which claims to be a party with a difference, also gave tickets to the defectors.

The Congress leader, who contested unsuccessfully from Medak Lok Sabha constituency Ch Narendranath joined BJP only after being assured ticket this time.

Similarly, TRS leader from Dubbaka Raghunandan Rao quit the party following differences with KCR and joined Congress first and then moved to BJP which is fielding him from Dubbaka.