Telangana’s political scene saw a major shift on Monday as several opposition leaders, including former minister Jupally Krishna Rao and former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, joined the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi, the former president of Congress, expressed his confidence in a united Congress’s strength, calling it unstoppable and saying that the era of people-centric politics would soon sweep through Telangana.
The Telangana leaders announced their decision to join the party after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in the national capital. Other leaders who joined the party included Gurnath Reddy (six-time MLA), Koram Kanakaiah (Ex-MLA & serving Zila Parishad chairman), Payam Venkateshwarlu (Ex-MLA), Muvament Vijaya Baby (DCCB ex-chairman), Pidamarthi Ravi (ex-chairman, SC Corporation), Thulluri Bramhaiah (present DCCB chairman), Borra Rajshekhar (present Markfed state vice chairperson), S. Jaipal (present municipal chairperson), Warya and Mandal Praja Parishad chairmen, and many senior BRS leaders.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera explained that these significant changes in Telangana are part of the larger pattern of change seen across the country. He attributed these changes to the impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in which Rahul Gandhi walked 4,000 kilometers, meeting people, interacting with them, and listening to their problems. He also made clear that the recent shifts in Telangana were a sign of larger changes across the country.
Telangana state unit chief Revanth Reddy, who also joined Congress on Monday, stated, Today many leaders promised to join the Congress and work together to defeat the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharath Rashtra Samithi) in Telangana. We have to show how the BJP and TRS together cheated 4 crore people of the state. He further stated that the Congress has prepared to defeat the BJP and TRS in the upcoming elections by organising significant programmes in Mehboobnagar on July 14 and 16.
The joining of Rao and Reddy is expected to boost Congress in united Khammam and Mahabubnagar districts. Both the leaders are influential in their districts and can influence the poll outcome in a few constituencies. Srinivasa Reddy’s move, in particular, is being seen as a significant blow to the Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and could impact the party’s prospects in Khammam district. The Congress has accepted Srinivasa Reddy’s demand to allocate tickets to eight out of 10 Assembly seats in Khammam district to his supporters.
Krishna Rao, who resigned from the Congress to join the BRS in 2011, expressed his reasons for departing the party, citing corruption, family rule and fascist approach as his reasons. Both the leaders were suspended from the BRS in April for anti-party activities.
Overall, the political scene in Telangana has seen a major shift in the fairing of political alliances after opposition leaders joined Congress ahead of the Assembly elections. The joining of Rao and Reddy is expected to boost Congress’s prospects in united Khammam and Mahabubnagar districts, and their move could impact the fate of upcoming polls scheduled for later this year.
