Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao faced a significant setback as more than a dozen former legislators, ministers, and office bearers of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) joined the Congress on Monday.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were present during the joining of these leaders, as the party seeks to rejuvenate its prospects in the southern state. Telangana is scheduled to hold elections later this year.
Prominent leaders who joined the Congress include former Member of Parliament Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, and ex-Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) Panyam Venkateswarlu, Koram Kanakaiah, and Kota Ram Babu. Rakesh Reddy, son of BRS MLC Narsa Reddy, also joined the Congress.
In the meeting held at AICC headquarters, state Congress chief Revanth Reddy, MPs Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Komatireedy Venkat Reddy, MLA Seethakka and other leaders were present. More than 30 Congress leaders from united Khammam, Mahabubnagar, and Nizamabad districts also attended the meeting.
After the meeting, Srinivasa Reddy told a news conference that after detailed discussions with followers and well-wishers and examining all aspects during the last six months, they decided to join the Congress.
Congress Vs BRS in Telangana
He said they took the decision after reaching to the conclusion that only the Congress can stop the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from coming to power again in Telangana.
Srinivasa Reddy said they got several surveys conducted which reveal that 80 per cent of people are against the BRS government. He said they received offers from several parties including the BJP and the Congress and also smaller parties.
They also discussed the proposal of floating a new regional party to counter the BRS but realised that such a move would split anti-KCR (as Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is popularly known) votes.
The former MP said people of Telangana would remain indebted to the Congress for creating Telangana state. He alleged that KCR could win the elections in 2014 and again in 2018 by making false and impractical promises and by misleading people. Both the leaders were suspended from BRS in April for anti-party activities.
Krishna Rao had resigned from the Congress to join the BRS in 2011. He was elected from Kollapur constituency in Mahabubnagar district in 2014 on a BRS ticket. He felt sidelined in the BRS after MLA Harshvardhan Reddy, who had defeated him in 2018 elections, switched his loyalties from Congress to the BRS after the Assembly polls.
Srinivas Reddy, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Khammam on YSR Congress Party ticket in 2014, later switched loyalties to the BRS. He was unhappy after KCR denied him a party ticket for both 2018 Assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Their joining is expected to be a shot in the arm for Congress party in united Khammam and Mahabubnagar districts. Both the leaders are considered influential in their respective districts and can influence the poll outcome in a few constituencies.
Srinivasa Reddy's move is being seen as a big blow to BRS in Khammam district, which is located on Telangana's border with Andhra Pradesh. The district has never been a stronghold of KCR's party.
Seats allocation
The Congress is said to have accepted Srinivasa Reddy's demand to allocate tickets in eight out of 10 Assembly seats in Khammam district to his supporters. Of these 10 seats, the Congress had won seven seats and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) two in the 2018 polls. The BRS could win just one seat. However, five of the Congress MLAS later defected to the BRS.
Commenting on the induction of these leaders, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal stated that the Telangana Congress is gaining significant momentum, with many leaders from various parties expressing their desire to join. He confidently asserted that this trend signals the Congress party's prospects of forming the government in Telangana. He further added that more leaders will join the Congress in due course.
This development comes shortly after the BRS chose to skip the major opposition meeting organized by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna. KT Rama Rao, the son of KCR, defended his party's decision, stating that other parties were overly fixated on "dislodging someone" from power.
He emphasized that the fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should be focused on core issues of national importance rather than individual power struggles. In an interview with PTI, he remarked, "Unfortunately, we are losing the plot there. We seem to be obsessed and worried about dislodging someone or putting somebody there, and that should not be the agenda."
Lok Sabha elections
KTR also hinted at BRS's willingness to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections independently, aiming to make a significant impact by winning a substantial number of seats. In the previous general elections, BRS (then TRS) secured nine out of 17 seats with a vote share of 41.29 percent.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won four seats, while the Congress settled for three. Although BRS won the most seats, its tally decreased from 12 in 2019 elections to nine.
(With inputs from IANS)
