Once Rivals, Now Friends: L Ramana & Jeevan Reddy

In the 2014 elections they were bitter rivals and contested from the same Assembly constituency Jagtial. Thanks to the Mahakootami, people are now witnessing the strange sight of Telangana TDP chief L Ramana, who lost the 2014 election from Jagtial constituency, and senior Congress leader T Jeevan Reddy, the who defeated him in 2014 and was the MLA of Jagtial in the dissolved Assembly, campaigning together and extolling each other.

The two sat side by side in an election campaign held in Jagtial on Monday as part of the Congress-TDP-CPI alliance in a brave attempt at showing bonhomie, but given they still don't know who will get the ticket to contest from Jagtial, it's unlikely to be unconditional love for each other.

Speaking on the occasion, Ramana alleged that caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had colluded with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hence was not speaking on the Rafale scam. He said that KCR's insecurity became clear when the latter lashed out at the Mahakootami. He claimed that the High Court had slapped KCR 46 times in his four-and-a-half-year rule, and that KCR was leading a luxurious life by constructing a building in a 10-acre land through ill-gotten gains. Ramana said that his only aim was to see the end of KCR's rule.

Jeevan Reddy said that the alliance would free the state from the Kalvakuntla family. He asked KCR why all the other political parties were opposing his rule if the latter had ruled the state in tune with the aspirations of the Telangana movement. He said that the opposition parties had floated Mahakootami just to free the state from KCR's family as it was destroying the state.