Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rahtra Samithi is bracing for a blow as around 35 of its key leaders are set to join the Congress ahead of the state elections due later this year. The group, led by former BRS leader Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and the state’s former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, have met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.
Sources said both leaders, along with their supporters, will formally join the party in Telangana in the first week of July in the presence of national leaders.
A huge public meeting is being planned in the state. Sources in the Congress said more leaders from the BRS and some from the BJP will join the party at the event.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is seeking a third term in the election due by year-end.
The popular Chief Minister has been the key figure in the formation of India’s youngest state, carved out from Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
In the 2018 election, his party won 88 of the 19 seats in the Telangana Assembly — up from 63 won in 2014.
The BRS — then known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS — had also won a 46.87 vote share against the 28.43 per cent votes received by the Congress.
Assaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM was a distant third with only seven seats.
The BJP, which only won a single seat, is trying to expand its footprint in the state.
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