Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Rajya Sabha MP Rajya Sabha MP Keshava Rao met Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy at his residence in Hyderabad, on Friday, March 29, ahead of joining the party.
In a statement on Thursday, March 28, Keshava Rao confirmed that both he and his daughter will be joining the party, but on separate dates. But, he said that his son, K Viplav Rao wants to continue in the BRS.
Keshava Rao, 84, is one of the senior-most members of the BRS. He had joined the BRS, led by ex-Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), during the statehood agitation (2009-14) in 2013. After Telangana was formed in 2014, he was made a Rajya Sabha MP and was last nominated in 2020.
Before he joined the BRS in 2013, Keshava Rao held senior positions in the grand old party and was also a member of the Congress Working Committee under the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Apart from that, he held several other positions including that of cabinet minister, and deputy chairman of the Legislative Council. Keshava Rao is also a former president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (joint state).
“Congress is like my own house. People who go on pilgrimages will return home at some point…..I worked in the Congress for 53 years and only for 10 years in the BRS. I joined the BRS for Telangana and Congress delivered on Telangana. I became the Rajya Sabha MP due to second priority votes of the Congress party,” he said.
While it was earlier reported that only his daughter (who is also the GHMC Mayor) would switch sides, Congress sources confirmed that even Keshava Rao will return to the grand old party.
He had quit the Congress over its initial indecisiveness in granting Telangana statehood. His entry into the BRS (then TRS) also added more impetus to KCR’s agitation. Despite his old age, Keshava Rao is still considered to be one of the few people who can speak up to KCR directly.
Apart from Keshava Rao and the GHMC Mayor, some Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) corporators are also likely to join the Congress in New Delhi. The development comes after All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders met both the father-daughter duo last week. The BRS in Telangana has been witnessing defections ever since it lost the Assembly elections last year.
