Telangana: Suspended BRS leaders Srinivas Reddy, Krishan Rao to join Congress

Two months after they were suspended from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party in Telangana, former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and ex-minister Jupally Krishna Rao are set to join the Congress.

Srinivas Reddy and Krishna Rao are likely to join the Congress on June 12, after Rahul Gandhi returns from the US.

The Assembly elections in Telangana will be held later this year.

Also read: Don’t entertain Congress Party: CM KCR tells people of Telangana

In April, the ruling BRS in Telangana suspended Srinivas Reddy and Krishna Rao from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

The two leaders were suspended following the orders of party president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).

Srinivas Reddy is a former Lok Sabha member from Khammam while Krishna Rao, a former minister, had lost the Assembly elections in 2018.

Also read: Telangana’s per capita income reaches ₹3.17 lakh, highest in India: CM KCR

The two leaders, whose relations with the BRS leadership had soured, had also made critical comments against the party earlier.

Srinivas Reddy, who held a meeting with his supporters at Kothagudem in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district in April, alleged family rule by CM KCR. He also claimed that the KCR’s wish to score a hat-trick by winning the Assembly elections this year would remain a pipe dream.

Krishna Rao attended the meeting organised by Srinivas Reddy and expressed solidarity. He reportedly said that KCR is inaccessible even to public representatives, besides lacking in honesty.

Citing the comment of a district unit leader at Khammam that he was not a member of the party, Srinivas Reddy had also questioned then how he can be suspended from the organisation.

Krishna Rao alleged that he was suspended without the BRS answering to the points he had raised.

(With agency inputs)