Why discontent is brewing among BRS defectors in Telangana Congress

Hyderabad: The wave of defections from Telangana’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the ruling Congress, which once threatened to drain the state’s main opposition party, stopped six months ago. But now, voices of dissent from those who switched sides are growing, disconcerting Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Telangana Congress leaders. Between mid-March and mid-July 2024 — before and after the Lok Sabha elections — 10 BRS MLAs and at least six MLCs joined the Congress.

The switch followed the BRS’s defeat to the Congress in the December 2023 assembly elections, when the two-term party’s numbers fell to 39 in the 119-member assembly. The decline continued in last year’s Lok Sabha polls when K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR’s) party suffered a complete rout, losing in all 17 parliamentary seats in Telangana.



Though they joined the Congress in the presence of Revanth Reddy and other top Telangana Congress leaders, these MLAs who switched allegiance are still recognised as BRS legislators, on paper. With a bypoll win and the backing of these 10 MLAs, the Congress’s effective strength is 75 in the assembly. But some defectors are struggling to adjust to the Congress, both at the local and higher levels, causing rumblings of discontent in the ruling party.

Dasoju Sravan, a senior BRS leader, says Revanth Reddy’s “indifference is the cause of resentment among several defected BRS MLAs”. “The CM who invited them into the party with hugs and scarfs has now become inaccessible, once his interests were served. This is annoying the MLAs,” Dasoju Sravan told ThePrint.

The last BRS MLA to join the Congress, Mahipal Reddy, sparked controversy last week by refusing to remove photos of him with former CM KCR from his camp office. “What is wrong with having KCR’s picture in my camp office, which is like my residence? It is my wish to keep CM Revanth’s photo there or not,” Mahipal, the MLA from Patancheru near Hyderabad, told reporters. His comments further irked local Congress leaders and cadres, some of whom had earlier barged into the MLA’s office, removed KCR photos and replaced them with images of Revanth.

They also sat in protest on the road and even tried to burn an effigy of Mahipal. Mahipal, who joined the Congress in mid-July, accused Congress constituency in-charge Kata Srinivas Goud of instigating party activists against him. Goud had lost to Mahipal, a three-time MLA, in the 2018 and 2023 elections.

Earlier this month, Danam Nagendar, the first BRS MLA to switch sides, created unease in the ruling party when he said the Formula E race held in Hyderabad during the BRS regime in 2023, helped enhance the city’s image globally. Danam, a former minister, joined the Congress in mid-March and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls last year on the party ticket from Secunderabad. This was when he officially remained a BRS MLA on paper.

Danam’s appreciation bothered Congress bosses, coming at a time BRS working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao was booked and also grilled by Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for alleged irregularities in diverting around Rs 50 crore to a London-based firm for conducting Formula E Hyderabad races.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing the matter. The MLA representing Khairatabad, in the heart of Hyderabad, later said that his remarks were not intended as a clean chit to KTR. Despite aligning with the ruling Congress, Danam has also been critical of the functioning of HYDRAA, an enforcement agency formed by the chief minister to protect Hyderabad’s public properties such as lakes and parks from encroachment.

Another defector MLA, Arekapudi Gandhi, also made comments seen as critical of the Revanth Reddy administration. On 18 January, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N.T.

Rama Rao’s death anniversary, Gandhi tweeted on the poor upkeep of the NTR Ghat adjacent to the state secretariat. Blaming “official negligence”, Gandhi said he would take up the matter with the chief minister. Gandhi, representing Serilingampally which encompasses Hyderabad’s IT hub, was a TDP legislator who joined the BRS during KCR’s regime.

He became the ninth BRS defector to join the Congress in July 2024, two days before Mahipal. In a move that infuriated BRS leaders, in September, Gandhi was appointed the Telangana legislature Public Accounts Committee chairman, a post conventionally reserved for the opposition side. Also Read: As chorus for Nara Lokesh as deputy CM grows, Pawan Kalyan’s JSP sends coalition dharma message The spate of desertions from the BRS stopped with Mahipal in July, despite the chief minister’s statement that the party gates were wide open and some Congress ministers’ claims that the BRS would be emptied soon.

Ruling party leaders even had to negotiate with some defected MLAs to retain them. In July-end, within a month of joining the Congress, Gadwal BRS MLA Krishna Mohan Reddy met with K.T.

Rama Rao and skipped a chief minister’s dinner meeting with the turncoat MLAs at former speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy’s residence. Pocharam, a BRS MLA, also joined the Congress. Mohan Reddy was reportedly upset with opposition from local Congress leaders in the constituency and felt that he was ignored by top leaders after joining.

However, he decided to stay in the Congress following discussions with minister Jupally Krishna Rao. “While some defected MLAs are miffed over their desires, concerns being ignored by Congress, the growing public anger against Revanth government is making them rethink. A few might return,” Dr Kalvakuntla Sanjay, a BRS MLA, told ThePrint Addanki Dayakar, Telangana Congress spokesperson, while acknowledging a few instances of dissonance, says all the defected MLAs will remain with the Congress.

“Some MLAs might have troubles at the ground, constituency level. Some expecting development funds, posts, etc., could be discontent with the delays in delivery.

Anyway, Congress allows a democratic space to express views, unlike the BRS where their voices remained stifled for long,” Addanki told ThePrint. A senior Congress leader said the defector MLAs were “in fact freer to express views than Congressmen, for they are still BRS MLAs not bound by our party rules and procedures”. However, following the Patancheru public ruckus, the TPCC formed a two-member committee, comprising government whip Adi Srinivas and TPCC vice president Vinod Reddy, before which Mahipal appeared on Thursday to offer his explanation.

Meanwhile, the BRS – which went to the Telangana high court earlier seeking disqualification of the 10 MLAs – has stepped up its efforts and moved the Supreme Court too on 16 January. BRS leaders filed a Special Leave Petition against Danam Nagender, Kadiyam Srihari and Tellam Venkat Rao and a writ petition against Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Kale Yadaiah, Sanjay Kumar, Arekapudi Gandhi, Krishna Mohan Reddy, Prakash Goud and Mahipal Reddy. The BRS urged the Supreme Court for directions to the Telangana assembly speaker and secretary to expedite the decision, fixing a timeline for resolution of the disqualification cases.

The court which heard the matter on Friday reportedly gave 10 days to the Assembly secretary’s counsel to convey the Speaker’s perception of reasonable time for resolution. The case is adjourned to 10 February. (Edited by Sugita Katyal) Also Read: Rajahmundry then, now Tirupati.

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