Big jolt for KCR's party as over 12 former ministers, MLAs join Congress

Ahead of the Telangana Assembly election, over a dozen former legislators, ministers and office bearers of K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) joined the Congress on Monday in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi at the AICC office in Delhi.

The leaders who joined the Congress today include former Telangana minister and five-time MLA Jupally Krishna Rao,  former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, former MLAs Gurnath Reddy, Koram Kanakaiah, Koram Kanakaiah and many others.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said the development was a sign that Congress would form the next government in Telangana. "A whole host of very senior leaders in Telangana have today joined the Congress party. This is a big boost for us, a sign of how the winds of change



have travelled all the way to Telangana. It's a sign that Congress will form the next government in Telangana," said Supriya Shrinate.

After meeting the Congress top brass, the BRS leaders announced at a press conference that they are joining the Congress. They will later address a public rally in Khammam, Telangana expected to be held in the first week of July with the likely presence of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, news agency PTI reported. Reddy was a BRS MP from Khammam in the previous Lok Sabha polls. The development comes ahead of Assembly elections in the state later this year.

The leaders met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi in the presence of general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy.