After months of internal squabbling ahead of the 2023 state elections, the Congress in Telangana seems to have finally got its flock together. The party’s Delhi high command and state leadership have managed to firefight and overcome internal issues after some of its bigger leaders like ex-party chief Uttam Kumar Reddy were reportedly unhappy and planned to quit. With these matters now sorted, party sources said that a handful of ex-MLAs from the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are also set to join the Congress on August 20 at Priyanka Gandhi’s rally in the state.
“There were some issues that Uttam Kumar Reddy had with the current state leadership, but they have been solved. It has been promised that he will be accommodated in the Congress Working Committee. Uttam is also one among the eight members in the state’s Election Screening Committee,” said a functionary from the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).
While the Congress has been upbeat about a few big names from the BRS flocking to it, internal tiffs had bogged the party in recent months. Problems, according to TPCC leaders, were primarily caused due to senior leaders like Uttam Kumar Reddy and ex-deputy chief minister (joint Andhra Pradesh) Raja Damodar Narasimha feeling either disrespect or sidelined.
“[TPCC president] A Revanth Reddy and his followers do not respect seniors. If someone in your organisation who has joined recently acts cocky, then it will not sit well with anyone. That is why there are issues,” said another TPCC functionary from Hyderabad.
Ex-BRS MP Pongulaeti Srinivas Reddy joined the party in the presence of Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi recently, and ex-BRS minister Jupally Krishna Rao will formally join the party at Priyanka Gandhi’s rally that is to be held at Kollapur in Mahbubnagar district. The party will declare a womens’ charter, along with some other announcements for minorities at Priyanka’s public meeting, said Congress leaders.
Stating that there are no leaders looking to leave the Congress at the moment, a TPCC functionary told TNM, “Damodar Narasimha is in the Election Committee that was formed in July. Another person who was miffed was ex-MP Ponnam Prabhakar. He has been promised a chairmanship in one of the committees that will also be formed for the coming state elections.”
Interestingly, a BJP leader from the state said that the saffron party had reached out to Uttam Kumar Reddy for talks, but refused to divulge further details. “All I can say is that right now we have about 13 names, including a few big ones from Congress who may join,” he added. Though defections before elections are common, most of the movement is currently from the BRS to the Congress.
Apart from Jupally Krishna Rao and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, a couple of former MLAs and sitting BRS MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy are also set to join the Congress at Priyanka Gandhi’s rally, stated BRS sources. Apart from these names, ex-BRS MLA and former Hyderabad Mayor Teegala Krishna Reddy will also shift to the Congress.
However, political leaders jumping ship from the BRS is also to be expected, as the ruling party that is run by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) got 12 Congress MLAs to defect to the BRS soon after the 2018 state elections. Many of the incumbent MLAs and others who will be denied tickets are expected to shift loyalties. Presently, the first choice of the defectors seems to be the Congress and the BJP, second.
In the 2018 polls, the BRS won 88 out of 119 seats, while the grand alliance led by the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) managed to win just 19 and two seats respectively. KCR had then decimated the Opposition in the Assembly by orchestrating the defection of 12 Congress MLAs.