Hyderabad :
Congress leader and former deputy Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Damodar Raja Narasimha’s wife Padmini Reddy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday morning and returned back to her party within 10 hours after the announcement.
On Thursday morning Padmini Reddy, who is also a social worker, met with state BJP President K Laxman. Following this, she joined the party and the same was announced at a press meet held by the BJP. K Laxman also praised her for the work that she did among women, especially in the Medak region.
BJP national general secretary V Muralidhar Rao tweeted that Padmini Reddy joined BJP due to the work of PM Modi.
Impressed with the work of PM @narendramodi ji, senior congress leader Smt Padmini Reddy joined BJP today in Hyderabad (Telangana). pic.twitter.com/kDOjBeWrN8
— P Muralidhar Rao (@PMuralidharRao) October 11, 2018
But in a sudden turn of events, Padmini told reporters, “I am taking my decision back. I have understood the feelings of the Congress party workers. I am now back to the Congress party.”
However it was reported that Padmini was worried about not getting a seat as the Telangana Congress has dropped hints that it would not grant multiple tickets to members of the same family, in order to accommodate the alliance with the other opposition parties in the state.
On Padmini’s homecoming within 10 hours, Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao wrote on Twitter, “Padmini Reddy is an educated and well-informed woman. BJP is a party which respects and believes in women’s empowerment. When she approached BJP to join and work for the party, certainly we couldn’t have asked her to get her husband’s permission. We respect Padmini Reddy’s decision either way. This only exemplifies BJP’s respect for women.”
Padmini Reddy is an educated & well informed woman. #BJP is a party which respects and believes in woman empowerment.
When she approached #BJP to join & work for the party, certainly we couldn't have asked her, to get her husband's permission for the same. @BJP4Telangana— K.Krishna Sagar Rao (@BJPKrishnasagar) October 11, 2018
Elections are due in all the 119 constituencies of Telangana on December 7 after the TRS dissolved the assembly on September 6, paving the way for early elections.