Telangana Minister and Congress leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Hyderabad: The hopes of the revival of BRS in time for the upcoming Lok Sabha looks like an uphill battle with many more leaders 'ready' to call it quits on the party.
If indications from the Congress camp are anything to go by, at least 25 out of the remaining 37 BRS MLAs are in touch with the grand old party and are ready to defect.
State irrigation minister, N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday said 25 BRS MLAs are joining Congress soon. “It's due to KCR’s arrogance that his party had fallen from 104 MLAs to 39 in 2023,” he said.
If that happens, it will lead to the merger of the BRS Legislature Party (BRSLP) into Congress and the defecting MLAs can escape the disqualification clause of the anti-defection law.
If two-thirds of MLAs of a party decide to merge with the legislature party they don’t attract provisions of anti-defection law. Already two sitting MLAs of BRS, Danam Nagender from Secunderabad and Kadiyam Srihari from Ghanpur have joined the Congress.
While Nagender is contesting as Secunderabad MP on a Congress ticket, Kadiyam Srihari’s daughter, Kavya received a Congress nomination to contest from Warangal Lok Sabha.
At least 26 BRS MLAs must write to the speaker seeking a merger of BRSLP with the Congress. With already two MLAs in its kitty, Congress needs the support of another 24 MLAs for the merger.
With the support of BRS MLAs, the Congress strength will rise to 80 plus from the current 64 a simple majority. Amidst threats from BRS and also BJP that the Congress government with just wafer wafer-thin majority will fall after the Lok Sabha polls, the grand old party has been aiming for a 2/3rd majority of 80 MLAs.
BRS had done the same thing after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
In June 2019, 12 out of the Congress 18 MLAs had requested to merge the Congress Legislature Party with the TRS Legislature Party. The Congress in 2018 had won 19 assembly seats while the TRS had won 88 in the 119-member House. The number was reduced to 18 after the then TPCC chief Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy resigned from the Huzurnagar constituency following his victory in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Saturday ridiculed Congress' manifesto that promised amendment of 10th schedule that ensured automatic disqualification if any MLA/MP defects a party.
Bypolls
Congress on Saturday announced Narayanan Sri Ganesh as the party’s candidate for the bypoll to the Legislative Assembly of Telangana from Secunderabad Cantt, an SC Constituency. By-election to Secunderabad Cantt was necessitated due to the demise of sitting MLA G Lasya Nanditha.