The Congress in Telangana received a boost after 35 Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders including some key leaders from Telangana’s ruling party crossed over to its camp.
Political analysts say that the joining of BRS leaders has given a psychological edge to the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled later this year.
Congress in the state appeared to be lagging at a distant third position but the victory in neighbouring Karnataka and subsequent developments have lifted the party’s spirits.
Former minister Jupally Krishna Rao and former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy have joined the Congress following a fall out with the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
After meeting AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Monday, they along with other leaders announced their decision to join Congress party. They will formally join Congress at a public meeting at Khammam on July 2, which will be addressed by Rahul Gandhi.
Krishna Rao and Srinivasa Reddy are considered leaders with considerable political influence in undivided Khammam and Mahabubnagar districts respectively. The Congress leaders hope that their joining will bolster the party’s prospects in upcoming elections.
It’s a homecoming for Krishna Rao, who was minister in Congress government in united Andhra Pradesh. Srinivasa Reddy was elected to Lok Sabha on YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) ticket in 2014 but he had later defected to BRS.
Other leaders who joined the Congress include six-time former MLA Gurnath Reddy, ex-MLA and Zila Parishad Chairman Koram Kanakaiah, former MLA Payam Venkateshwarlu, District Cooperative Central Bank (DCCB) ex-chairman Muvament Vijaya Baby, sitting DCCB Chairman Thulluri Bramhaiah, ex-chairman of SC Corporation Pidamarthi Ravi, Markfed state Vice Chairperson Borra Rajshekhar and Municipal Chairperson, Warya and Mandal Praja Parishad Chairman S. Jaipal.
These new entrants have boosted the party’s confidence as was evident from Mallikarjun Kharge’s tweet.
“People of Telangana are yearning for change. They are looking towards the Congress party. The Congress party is ready to take on any challenge. Together, we will usher a brighter future for Telangana, based on shared democratic values and all-around social welfare,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the state Congress also claimed that winds of change are sweeping through Telangana. “In a big boost to the Congress party’s prospects, more and more people are aligning with us to take the message of love and prosperity forward,” it said.
Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K. C. Venugopal, AICC incharge for Telangana Manikrao Thakre, TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy and other key leaders held a strategy meeting at AICC headquarters on Tuesday following the joining of these leaders.
Revanth Reddy announced after the meeting that the party has rolled out the action plan for the Assembly polls. He hinted that the party in Telangana will adopt a strategy similar to the one in Karnataka.
The TPCC chief claims that these joining show the growing strength of the Congress party. “The four crore people of Telangana have been bearing the brunt of BRS excesses and misrule and are waiting for an opportunity to unseat the KCR government,” said Revanth Reddy.
AICC member and TPCC general secretary Kota Neelima believes that it is the beginning of the Congress wave in Telangana.
The Congress party is looking to regain the lost glory in its former stronghold. Despite claiming credit for carving out Telangana state, the Congress party failed to capture power in Telangana as KCR wrested the initiative to form the first government in the new state in 2014. TRS, as it was then known, retained power in 2018, depriving Congress party of another opportunity
The Congress is likely to attract more leaders to its camp as the elections draw near. “Many dissident leaders of BRS and even BJP are likely to join Congress. Even those who had quit Congress a few years ago may come back,” said analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.
Despite the defeats, defections, poor performance in by-elections and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the infighting, the Congress party is still seen as a strong force.
“Some leaders might have left Congress but we have strong cadres on the ground,” said senior leader and former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir.