Warangal: TS BJP misses big catch in high drama

Warangal : Call it a high drama or highhandedness of the BRS, Aroori Ramesh was picked up by his party leaders, minutes before he was set to announce his decision to join the BJP.

There was a total pandemonium outside his residence in Hanumakonda on Wednesday morning when Ramesh was about to address the media persons. Several BRS leaders, including former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao and MLC Baswaraj Saraiah, barged into Ramesh’s residence and asked him to continue with the party.

It may be noted here that Ramesh had met the top BJP leaders on Tuesday and they offered him the ticket to contest the Warangal Lok Sabha seat. Against this backdrop, Ramesh was to announce his decision to quit the BRS. Sources said that Ramesh was to leave for Delhi on Wednesday evening to join the saffron party.

Errabelli and others forcibly took him to KCR’s residence in Hyderabad even though the BJP cadres who gathered at Ramesh’s home raised slogans against the BRS. Ramesh appeared emotional when all that was happening around him. It’s learnt that BJP State president G Kishan Reddy also spoke to Ramesh over mobile. Later, a group of BJP workers stopped the BRS leaders’ vehicles heading to Hyderabad with Ramesh.

After he met with the BRS chief KCR in Hyderabad, it was a complete volte-face from everything that he had planned.

The see-saw game finally ended with Aroori Ramesh making a statement that he is very much with the BRS and has no plans to join the BJP. He also made it clear that he had not met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah who was in Hyderabad recently.

Interestingly, Ramesh had refused to contest from Warangal Lok Sabha seat when KCR had offered him the ticket, sources say. It’s said that KCR had advised Ramesh not to be hasty in leaving the party. On the other hand, sitting MP Pasunuri Dayakar urged the BRS leadership to re-nominate him.