Boost to Congress as 35 BRS leaders join the party ahead of Telangana polls

Buoyed by its electoral win in Karnataka, the Congress party is seeking to wrest power from the BRS, which has been in power for the last almost a decade in Telangana.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Rahul Gandhi, Telangana Congress President Revanth Reddy and others during a meeting where several former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders joined Congress, at AICC headquarters, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

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In a major boost to the Congress ahead of Telangana Assembly elections, as many as 35 leaders from ruling BRS, including former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and ex-minister Jupally Krishna Rao, joined the grand old party and met the party’s top leadership in New Delhi on Monday, news agency PTI reported.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders formally joined the Congress in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi. Party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Congress chief of its Telangana unit A Revanth Reddy were also present at the meeting.

In a tweet, the Congress wrote, “Winds of change are sweeping through Telangana. In a big boost to the Congress party’s prospects, more and more people are aligning with us to take the message of love and prosperity forward.”

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In a press conference, AICC leader Pawan Khera said: “This winds of change started with ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, the effect of which you saw in Karnataka. Today, many important leaders of Telangana are joining Congress party and all of them have held long talks after meeting top leaders of the party.”

Winds of change are sweeping through Telangana.

In a big boost to the Congress party's prospects, more and more people are aligning with us to take the message of love and prosperity forward.

Today, senior leaders from Telangana joined the Congress party in the presence of… pic.twitter.com/1vLGzPN1aC

— Congress (@INCIndia) June 26, 2023

Buoyed by its electoral win in Karnataka, the Congress party is seeking to wrest power from the BRS, which has been in power for the last almost a decade in Telangana. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held later this year.

Among the other leaders who joined the Congress include six-time former MLA Gurnath Reddy, ex-MLA and Zila Parishad Chairman Koram Kanakaiah, former MLA Payam Venkateshwarlu, District Cooperative Central Bank (DCCB) ex-chairman Muvament Vijaya Baby, sitting DCCB Chairman Thulluri Bramhaiah, ex-chairman of SC Corporation Pidamarthi Ravi, Markfed state Vice Chairperson Borra Rajshekhar and Municipal Chairperson, Warya and Mandal Praja Parishad Chairman S. Jaipal, and other senior BRS leaders.

With PTI inputs

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