Congress in Telangana continues to create doubts over the strength of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) ahead of the Parliament elections attracting the opposition leaders. The latest addition to the list is the BRS MLC and former Minister Patnam Mahender Reddy.
He met Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy at his residence in Hyderabad sparking off rumours of leaving the BRS party. His wife and Vikarabad District Zilla Parishad Chairperson Sunita Mahender Reddy was also present in the meeting further clearing doubts over their exit from the BRS. Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha and Advisor to Government Vem Narender Reddy too were present.
The Mahender family is apparently seeking the Chevella Lok Sabha seat and the Congress would also be keen as it doesn’t have a strong candidate to take on BJP’s likely candidate Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and BRS’s sitting MP G. Ranjit Reddy. Chevella constituency is being handled by CM Revanth Reddy after party seniors distributed the work among themselves.
A political heavyweight in Rangareddy
What perturbs the BRS is that leaving of such senior leaders may trigger an exodus from the party in Rangareddy district where Mr. Mahender Reddy is considered a political heavyweight having worked as a Minister in the Telugu Desam government and also the BRS government.
Once hailed as the leader with an iron grip over the combined Ranga Reddy district, he ensured that only his family controlled the political and administrative aspects of any government. His wife Sunita was the ZP Chairperson of Ranga Reddy district even during the Telugu Desam government.
His brother Patnam Narender Reddy was an MLA from Kodangal in 2018 and was the man of the moment having defeated the present Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who was also the sitting MLA at that time and Kodangal was considered his fiefdom. However, Mr. Revanth Reddy took revenge by defeating him in 2023 elections with a huge margin.
Mr. Mahender Reddy as the BRS (then TRS) candidate was however defeated from Tandur in 2018 at the hands of a first-timer and youngster Pilot Rohit Reddy of the Congress. Mr. Rohit Reddy later defected to the BRS leading to rivalry within the party over the control of the constituency.
Realising the strength of Mr. Mahender Reddy, the BRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao got him elected to the Legislative Council (MLC). However, he expected the Tandur ticket to him or his wife in the 2023 elections. There were rumours that he would switch over to the Congress if denied a ticket, and to pacify him, KCR inducted him into his Cabinet just three months before the Assembly polls.
Possible exodus from BRS
What should worry the BRS is that such meetings of BRS leaders with CM Revanth Reddy would not stop here. Along with Mr. Mahender Reddy, a major chunk of the BRS leaders in Ranga Reddy district might move to the Congress ahead of the Parliament elections.
Despite the BRS leaders denying any political significance to such meetings it is quite clear that Congress is playing its cards safely targeting the influential leaders to weaken the BRS.
The meeting of Mr. Mahender Reddy comes after four BRS MLAs from the combined Medak district met Mr. Revanth Reddy on January 23 this year, followed by Rajendranagar MLA T Prakash Goud on January 28.
The four MLAs from Medak meeting the CM was a shocker to the BRS as the party fared well only in Medak in the Assembly elections as far as rural Telangana was concerned. Medak is the bastion of KCR as it is his native district. His nephew and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao considered as a strongman in the district.
However, the four BRS MLAs later clarified that the meeting was to seek development funds for the district. There were few takers to their claims.
In another episode that might unnerve the BRS, its sitting MP from Peddapalli, Venkatesh Netha, joined the Congress ahead of the Parliament polls. He claimed that BRS and BJP had come to an understanding in Telangana for the Parliament elections and he could not be party to that.
His entry into Congress comes in the wake of former Deputy Chief Minister T. Rajaiah resigning from the party. He was denied MLA ticket from Station Ghanpur, though he was the sitting MLA, over his controversial image.
Interestingly, former BRS Deputy Mayor and sitting Corporator in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Baba Fasiuddin joined the Congress on Thursday. He claimed BRS chief KCR and working president K.T. Rama Rao did not keep their promise of fielding him as MLA candidate from Jubilee Hills.
