Kadiyam Srihari, daughter join Cong as BRS tainted by scandal

Hyderabad: Kadiyam Kavya will continue to be the candidate for Lok Sabha from Warangal but with change of brand name, BRS to Congress.

Kavya and her father Kadiyam Srihari who is a senior politician and was the deputy CM in BRS government switched their loyalties to Congress on Sunday in the presence of Chief Minster A Revanth Reddy and Congress in-charge Deepadas Munshi.

Kavya who is a pathologist has been in active in public life for years through her charitable organisationKadiyam Foundation. The father and daughter duo cited recent allegations of corruption and phone tapping against the previous regime behind her decision, adding that the allegations have lowered the party's prestige.

This development comes within 24-hours after the joining of Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi, the daughter of BRS general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP K Keshava Rao in Congress. While Kadiam was in TDP before the Telangana was formed, Keshav Rao was in Congress party.

The new wave of desertions has come as a major dent to the BRS’s prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

However, the decision to induct the Kadiyam family had caused some discontent among a section of the Madiga community. A few leaders including Pidamarthi Ravi, GajjelaKantham, Vara Prasad along with their supporters camped in Delhi and held demonstrations in front of AICC office. They pointed out that the Congress has already offered tickets to Malas in two other constituencies including Nagarkurnool and Peddapalli and if even Warangal goes to Kadiyam family the Madigas who always supported Congress will stand deprived. They argue that the BJP have nominated one Madiga for Lok SabhaAroori Ramesh from Warangal and P Bharat from Nagarkurnool.

The BRS has named the IPS turned politician RS Praveen (Nagarkurnool). Speculation is that the former Deputy CM T Rajaiah will be fielded from the constituency.