Congress Pooh-Poohs Danam Exit, Calls TRS Hypocritical

Pointing to Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy's statement in the past once that former minister Danam Nagender was a land-grabber, former MP and Congress leader Ponnam Prabhakar today asked the ruling TRS leaders how it admitted such a criminal into the party.

Speaking to the media, Ponnam said that KCR should admit Danam into his party only after explaining the Home Minister's remarks.

Ponnam also found fault with Danam for criticizing the Congress which gave him political birth, and said that plenty of BCs like him (Ponnam) were happy in the party.

The Congress party had given high positions to many BCs, Ponnam said.

TPCC general secretary Mahesh Goud alleged that Danam moved around only with upper caste people, and ran away when he heard the terms BCs or their problems. He also said that the people knew all the positions he had been given by the Congress, and how the Congress treated the BCs.

Newly appointed Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee president M Anjan Kumar Yadav said that there would be no loss to the Congress with the desertion of Danam, whom he called a "bachha".

"The party will in fact be strengthened with Danam's exit," he said.

Yadav also said that it was ridiculous for Danam to say that he was the reason that he (Yadav) got the GHCC president post.

"Is it possible for Danam to make the party high command give the city president post to me? Danam habitually changes political parties, so how would it be possible for someone with the kind of credibility he would have to convince the party high command to give the president post to me?" he asked.

Yadav said that Danam was afraid of him becoming the GHHCC president and was concerned that the party would not get back its lost sheen in Hyderabad. And Danam should be ashamed to say that the Congress did injustice to him, Yadav said, when he had been made a minister when the party was in power.