Pocharam Srinivas Reddy
Credit: X/@PocharamBRS
Hyderabad: Adding to the woes of Telangana's former ruling party BRS, its Bhansawada MLA and former Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy has switched over to the Congress.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Agriculture Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Friday visited the residence of the Banswada MLA to formally invite him to join the ruling party.
Pocharam Srinivas Reddy is the fourth MLA of the K Chandrashekar Rao-led party to join the Congress. Party legislators Tellam Venkat Rao, Danam Nagender and Kadiam Srihari had joined the Congress before the Lok Sabha polls. Pocharam Srinivas Reddy is a senior politician in Telangana and a key figure in the Nizamabad area.
"Called on Pocharam Srinivas Reddy as part of rebuilding the Telangana state. Requested to extend support as a big brother. Srinivas Reddy joined the Congress for the welfare of Telangana farming community. The government will seek suggestions from him on farmers' welfare. Pocharam Srinivas Reddy will get due respect in future. The government will also seek his cooperation to complete all pending projects in Nizamabad district. My government is committed to farmers' welfare. We will seek the help of all for the welfare of farmers," said the chief minister after meeting the former Speaker.
After it became clear that Srinivas Reddy switched sides, BRS workers staged a protest in front of his house in MLAs Colony.
Reacting to the development, BRS said the chief minister was engaging in practices that he had condemned earlier.
"Revanth's unconstitutional actions of poaching MLAs from other parties starkly contradict the principles of democracy championed by the late Rajiv Gandhi, particularly regarding the anti-defection law introduced during his tenure to preserve the values and integrity of the democratic process. It is ironic that Revanth Reddy, as TPCC president, who once vociferously decried political defections, now brazenly indulges in the same practices he previously condemned. This hypocrisy not only highlights his manipulative tendencies but also shows his disrespect to the legislative measures put in place by Rajiv Gandhi to prevent such political opportunism," said BRS leader Sravan Dasoju.