DS resigns from Congress, to join TRS

Former PCC President Dharmpuri Srinivas on Thursday announced his resignation from the Congress party. He also announced that he would join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi soon.

Addressing a press conference here, Srinivas said that the decision to leave the Congress party was highly painful. "I was associated with Gandhi Bhavan since 1969 and worked under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. I will remain indebted to them throughout my life for the support that they extended to me," he said.

Srinivas claimed that two factors, 'humiliation in Congress' and 'development of Telangana', have forced him to quit Congress and join TRS. He said it was his inner conscience which led him to take this decision. Refusing to elaborate on how he was humiliated in the Congress party, he said he has shared those details only with Sonia Gandhi and no one else. He called AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh a "bluffer" for describing his decision to join TRS as opportunistic politics. "I had a great opinion about him. He is a bluffer. I'm not joining the TRS for any posts," he said adding that denial of MLC post by the Congress party did not trigger his exit. "I have distributed B-forms to 294 candidates in two General elections. I blessed Akula Lalitha when she was given the MLC post," he said.

The former PCC chief said that everyone was aware of his contribution in formation of Telangana. "It was me who initiated the debate on formation of Telangana. Now I want to play a role in the development of the new State," he said.

Stating that it was Sonia Gandhi who granted statehood for Telangana, Srinivas said everyone must also acknowledge that it was Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao who led a successful movement. "He has been working with serious commitment to develop the new State. He said everyone should rise above party level to support the Chief Minister in his initiatives," he said.

Srinivas said that the date and time of his formal joining into the TRS would be decided later as per the Muhurutam.