Hyderabad: In what will be a big jolt to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, senior Rajya Sabha MP Keshava Rao and his daughter Vijayalakshmi Gadwal are joining the Congress soon.
In a statement on Thursday, March 28, Keshava Rao confirmed that both him 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.
“Former minister A Indrakaran Reddy will also soon join the Congress,” he stated.
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 Keshav 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. In spite of his old age, Keshav 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.
”If he makes such a decision at the age of 84, then he is not in his senses. At this age, what position will he get in the Congress now? KCR has virtually made him second in command of the BRS in spite of him coming from Congress. They have been associates for so long as well,” said a BRS leader, who did not want to be quoted.
More BRS leaders to follow?
In the coming weeks leading to the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana, slated to be held in May, more defections are likely to follow.
In the last week, sitting BRS MLA Danam Nagender and MP Ranjith Reddy both joined the Congress. Nagender soon announced the party’s Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat name, while Ranjith Reddy was given the Chevella ticket. It has been learnt that other BRS MLAs like Sabitha Indra Reddy and a handful of others are likely to defect in the coming days.
After defeating the BRS last year, the Congress in Telangana under chief minister Revanth Reddy is looking to cement itself in Hyderabad and across the state. However, defections are not new, as the previous government under ex-chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) had engineered the same during both his stints between 2014-23.
In fact, after winning the 2018 elections with 88 out of 119 seats, KCR virtually ended the opposition in the state Assembly by getting 12 out of 19 MLAs from the Congress to defect.
