Hyderabad: More opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs are likely to jump ship and join the Congress in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana. Sources from the grand old party confirmed that at least a handful legislators will be joining the party. A day earlier, BRS MLA Danam Nagender and BRS MP Ranjith Reddy quit and joined the Congress.
“MLAs Sabitha Indra Reddy and Prakash Goud will definitely will join the party very soon. We were waiting to complete 100 days before taking in opposition MLAs, so now you will see all the jumping jacks. The original plan was to wait till after the Lok Sabha polls, but it seems now the party wants to take in people as and where is required,” said a Congress leader from Hyderabad who did not want to be named.
Another senior Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) member said that apart from Danam Nagender, other senior BRS MLAs like ex-minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav are ready to defect, but that the Congress is also being careful. “We don’t want to have a bad image just before the election. But definitely about five or six MLAs will join soon in the next few weeks,” he told Siasat.com.
One name that had been doing rounds with regard to defections was that of Medchal MLA Malla Reddy, who owns a handful of educational institutions. The BRS MLA reportedly held talks with senior Congress AICC leaders well, but his entry into the party did not work out. It has been learnt that Telangana chief minister and TPCC president Revanth Reddy may have had something to do with it, given that Malla Reddy in the past had verbally abused the chief minister.
“Malla Reddy was ready to join but that did not work out. Talasani is also ready to join the Congress but since we took Danam Nagender now, we will see about it later,” the TPCC leader stated. Moreover, the Congress leader from Hyderabad also said that BRS MLAs may be taken in enmasse eventually so that the anti-defection law does not come into effect.
If an MLA defects, they will have to resign from their post and a by-election will be held. Only if two-third MLAs defect then the entire legislature party can be merged with the other side.
