In a significant setback for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana, MLA G. Mahipal Reddy has officially joined the ruling Congress party as of Monday.
Reddy, who represents the Patancheru constituency, made the switch in a ceremony attended by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, along with Ministers Damodar Rajanarasimha, P. Srinivas Reddy, former MLA Jagga Reddy, and other prominent leaders. Additionally, former Congress member Gali Anil Kumar, who had previously defected to the BRS before last year’s Assembly elections and unsuccessfully contested both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, also returned to Congress.
With this latest change, Mahipal Reddy becomes the tenth BRS MLA to defect to Congress since it assumed power in December 2023. He was re-elected from Patancheru on a BRS ticket for the third consecutive time. Notably, he is the third MLA to switch allegiance within just four days.
Arekapudi Gandhi, the MLA for Serilingampally in Greater Hyderabad, joined Congress on July 13, while T. Prakash Goud, representing the Rajendranagar constituency, made the switch the day before.
Following this defection, the BRS's representation in the 119-member Assembly has dwindled to 28. The party had won 39 seats in the elections but lost the Secunderabad Cantonment seat to Congress in a by-election held in May. Meanwhile, Congress's strength in the Assembly has risen to 75. Over the past seven months, the BRS has also seen the departure of six MLCs and several senior leaders to Congress.
In response, senior Congress figure Madhu Goud Yaskhi stated that the admission of BRS MLAs into the party has received the endorsement of the higher leadership and emphasized that Congress did not engage in any unethical practices to acquire these members. He pointed out that in other states, the BJP is orchestrating similar defections from Congress, even promoting some former members to ministerial positions.
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