HYDERABAD : As the next Budget session of Assembly draws close, the Congress has initiated the process of welcoming more BRS MLAs and MLCs into its fold.
The latest legislator to dump the pink party for the grand old party is T Prakash Goud from Rajendranagar Assembly segment.
After offering special prayers in Tirumala, Prakash Goud joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at the latter’s residence here on Friday.
Revanth and Prakash Goud are old pals since their stint with the TDP.
Before joining the ruling Congress, Prakash Goud called on the CM on two occasions.
After his second meeting with the chief minister, he held a meeting with his supporters in the BRS and told them that he would not shift loyalties. However, he followed in the footsteps of seven other MLAs who joined the Congress.
Earlier in the day, speaking to the media in Tirupati, Prakash Goud said that he has taken the decision in the best interest of Telangana people, especially farmers. Stating that there was “no external pressure” on him to quit BRS, he said that several other BRS leaders too are showing interest to shift their loyalty to the Congress.
“The family rule of KCR led to failure of BRS,” he said.
Six more BRS MLAs to join Cong soon: Danam
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Congress has already “sealed the deal” with MLAs from Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medak districts and it is likely to induct them very soon.
Asserting that no MLA will be willing to stay “wholeheartedly” in the BRS, Khairatabad legislator Danam Nagender, who recently joined the ruling party, said: “Six more MLAs are set to join the Congress in one or two days. In the next fortnight, the BRS legislative party will be merged into the Congress.”
Explaining the reasons for the BRS MLAs defecting to the Congress, Nagender said: “The MLAs are free to meet CM Revanth Reddy or any minister for that matter. This was not the case when the BRS was in power. KTR used to make MLAs wait for hours together to meet him. He had a coterie of friends whom he encouraged to make thousands of rupees.”
“KTR says regional parties should be like TDP, ‘which values its leaders’, but have you ever given importance to party leaders,” he asked.
Though the BRS MLAs from Hyderabad region neither confirmed nor dismissed the reports of them joining the Congress, all of them met Revanth Reddy at different occasions, under the pretext of seeking government’s support for development of their respective constituencies.
The induction of Prakash Goud, who is the eighth BRS MLA to join the Congress, the ruling party’s strength in the 119-strong Assembly has increased to 73 from 65 it had after the 2023 elections.
The BRS strength has dropped from 38 to 30.