Former Telangana minister Eatala Rajender, who was sacked from the state Cabinet on May 2 on charges of land encroachments, on Friday resigned from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). He told reporters that he has sent his resignation letter to the party and would also meet the assembly speaker later to resign as an assembly member.
Rajender, who is expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) next week, said he ended his 19-year-old association with the TRS to protect his self-respect. He said he was pained at the way chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, sacked him without even giving him an opportunity to offer an explanation.
Rajender added he also resigned from the assembly in 2006 for the sake of self-respect. “Every time, I contested the elections, I won the Huzurabad seat, because the people of the constituency are with me,” he said.
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Rajender said he and Rao began drifting apart in 2016 when despite taking a prior appointment to meet the chief minister, he and a few other TRS lawmakers were stopped at the gate and refused entry into his camp office.
Rajender questioned whether there was a single Other Backward Caste or Scheduled Caste official in the chief minister’s office. “Not just me, several other ministers also faced humiliation in the KCR rule. I had been facing humiliations silently only in the interest of the state. Otherwise, there is no need to be a minister, who is worse than a slave.”
{{/usCountry}}Rajender questioned whether there was a single Other Backward Caste or Scheduled Caste official in the chief minister’s office. “Not just me, several other ministers also faced humiliation in the KCR rule. I had been facing humiliations silently only in the interest of the state. Otherwise, there is no need to be a minister, who is worse than a slave.”
{{/usCountry}}Former MLA Enugu Ravinder Reddy, ex-Karimnagar zilla parishad chairperson Tula Uma are also likely to join the BJP along with Rajender.
The TRS reacted strongly. “It is like betraying one’s own mother. Telangana became a reality only because of KCR. Leaders might come and go, but the TRS will remain strong under the leadership of KCR,” TRS leader Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said. He wondered whether Rajender would be able to protect his self-respect if he joined the BJP and said he would fade out of politics soon.