Firebrand Congress leader A Revanth Reddy, who had defected from the TDP, in a move of one-upmanship over Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao who had decided to dissolve the state Assembly today, resigned as MLA just before the Assembly dissolution.
A maverick politician, Reddy submitted his resignation letter in the Speaker's format just hours before the State Assembly was dissolved as per the recommendation of the Chief Minister to the Governor following a resolution by the state Cabinet earlier.
Armed with his resignation letter, Reddy tried to personally hand it over to Speaker Madhusudhana Chary in the Assembly premises. If he could not meet the Speaker, he was planning to submit the same to the Legislature Secretary.
Reddy's sudden decision to quit his Assembly membership caused ripples in political circles. It is stated that his move was intended to gain a political brownie point over KCR by himself resigning rather than becoming a former member of the Assembly once it was dissolved by the latter.
Reddy, elected twice in 2009 and 2014 on TDP tickets, had shifted his loyalties to the Congress in October 2017. As TDP MLA Reddy was involved in the infamous cash-for-vote scandal during the 2015 MLC elections. He was
caught red-handed while allegedly trying to lure the nominated Anglo-Indian TRS MLA Elvis Stephenson to cross-vote in favour of a TDP nominee. He was charge-sheeted in the case and arrested for a month in June 2015, and came out on bail.
While the case is still pending in court, Revanth Reddy quit the TDP after differences cropped up with party boss N Chandrababu Naidu. He then joined the Congress, and has ever since been very vociferous in criticizing the TRS and KCR for the various omissions and commissions as he sees them, of the ruling party.