Hyderabad: Telangana ex-Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy along with his son P Bhaskar Reddy quit the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and joined the Congress on Friday, June 21, after a meeting with chief minister A Revanth Reddy and Information and Public Relations (I&PR) minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy on Friday, June 21 at the former Speaker’s residence.
The development comes as a big jolt to the K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) led BRS and adds to the long list of leaders who left the pink party after losing power after the 2023 Assembly elections.
Srinivas Reddy began his political journey with the grand old party in 1976, later joining the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1984 and served as a cabinet minister in the N Chandrababu Naidu-led AP cabinet twice, first as the minister for Mines and Geology between 1998-1999 and the minister for Panchayat Raj from 1999-2002.
He joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS- now BRS) in 2011 at the heights of the Telangana movement, after resigning as a TDP MLA and member.
He also served as the minister for Agriculture and Cooperation between 2014-2018 in the KCR-led Telangana cabinet, later becoming the state’s 2nd Assembly Speaker between 2019-2023.
He won from Banswada first as an MLA in 2009 as the TDP’s candidate and later won from the same constituency in 1994, 1999, 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2023.
Reports suggest that the MLA might be offered a berth in CM Revanth Reddy’s cabinet.
BRS leaders detained amid protest at Pocharam Srinivas’s house
BRS leaders Balka Suman, Gellu Srinivas Yadav, Balaraj Yadav, Rakesh Kumar, and others were detained near MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy’s house as they attempted to barge inside upon hearing that he was going to join Congress.
The police stopped the BRS leaders and took them into custody after an altercation.
