Pro-Jagan MLAs "cheated" Cong in Council polls: Kiran Reddy

Kiran said he felt "betrayed" by his party colleagues who are loyal to rebel leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, and accused them of "cheating" the Congress with the main objective of defeating its official nominee Mohammad Jani in the election held yesterday.

"They (MLAs loyal to Jagan) repeatedly promised and assured me that they will indeed vote for the Congress candidate in the Council elections. In fact, I told them that we will withdraw the fifth candidate from the fray if at all they have other plans. Except three or four, rest said they will vote for the Congress, but in the end they cheated the party," Kiran told newspersons here.

He revealed that some of the Jagan loyalists approached him and sought a change in their first preference vote in favour of the MIM candidate, and "I agreed".

"Accordingly, we altered our strategy, but their main objective was to defeat the Congress' official candidate."

"On the face of it, 10-11 votes of Congress were crossed (in favour of MIM). Overall the number of votes crossed could be 20. Anyhow, the MIM is our ally," he said.

In the end "joh jeeta wohi sikander" (winner takes it all), Kiran quipped. Asked if he personally felt cheated, the Chief Minister remarked: "It’s not me as such. It's the party (that has been cheated)."