Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and ex-Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy on Wednesday, October 25, quit the BJP and announced that he is returning to the Congress. The move comes as a significant jolt for the BJP, which was banking on Rajagopal Reddy as one of its big names. In a statement, he said that the people of Telangana now see Congress as an alternative to the BRS, hence he has decided to return.

The ex-MLA’s decision to quit the Congress in August and join the BJP had resulted in the Munugode bye-poll, a seat that the BRS eventually won. An industrialist, Rajagopal Reddy’s entry into the BJP managed to create a perception that BJP is the first option for leaders looking to leave the Congress. Prior to that, ex-BRS minister and Huzurabad MLA Eatala Rajender joined the BJP in 2021. Unlike Rajagopal Reddy, Eatala managed to defeat the BRS in a bye-poll.

Rajagopal Reddy said that he is returning to the Congress to make Telangana free of the ‘corrupt’ and ‘anarchic’ rule of BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and his family. The ex-MLA also said the BJP had emerged as an alternative to the BRS, but became weak due to subsequent political developments. He also alleged that in last year’s Munugode bye-poll, 100 BRS MLAs and senior leaders campaigned against him, and spent hundreds of crores to defeat him. 

It may be noted that Rajagopal Reddy’s name was not in the BJP’s first list of 52 candidates released on October 22. The ex-MLA is also the brother of Congress Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. His move back will strengthen the Congress in the Nalgonda district.

The Telangana Assembly elections will be held on November 30, and the results will be announced on December 3. The ruling BRS’s main challenger is the Congress. The BJP this time around is likely to go in an alliance with the Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP).