HYDERABAD: In a major setback to the opposition BRS, former deputy chief minister Tatikonda Rajaiah tendered his resignation from his primary membership of the party.
The departure of the Dalit leader, who belongs to the Madiga community, from the BRS comes just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Rajaiah has been unhappy with the way he was treated by the BRS. He was unceremoniously removed from the first Cabinet of K Chandrasekhar Rao in 2015 for his alleged corrupt activities. Rajaiah, who represented the Station Ghanpur Assembly constituency, was denied a ticket to contest the 2023 Assembly elections. The BRS chose Kadiyam Srihari over Rajaiah.
Sources indicated that Rajaiah is likely to join the Congress, the party which he represented as an MLA before the formation of a separate Telangana state. He had switched his loyalties to the TRS (now BRS), citing the Telangana cause.