Blow to KCR, another BRS MLA joins Congress in Telangana

K Chandrashekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) suffered a setback in Telangana as its MLA Sanjay Kumar joined the ruling Congress on Sunday. Kumar was welcomed into the Congress fold by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, party sources told news agency PTI. Kumar is the fifth BRS MLA to join the ruling Congress. Kumar joining the Congress came close on the heels of senior BRS MLA and former Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy switching over to the grand old party on June 21. 

Earlier, BRS MLAs Kadiam Srihari, Danam Nagender, and Tellam Venkat Rao joined the ruling party. Besides these MLAs, several other BRS leaders, including Hyderabad Mayor Vijaya Laxmi R Gadwal, have also joined the Congress. There have been speculations that more BRS MLAs would join the Congress in the next few days. 

Sanjay Kumar, a doctor by profession, was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Jagtial for the second time.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, several BRS MPs and MLAs joined the Congress, which wrested power from K Chandrashekar Rao. 

The Congress bagged 64 of 119 seats in the 2023 assembly elections, well above the majority mark of 60. The BRS, however, was reduced to 39 seats from 88 in the 2018 elections. The BJP, too, improved its tally and won 8 seats. 

Months after the assembly polls, the BRS lost several leaders to Congress. In March this year, two of its MPs — Pasunuri Dayakar from Warangal and G Ranjith Reddy from Chevella — and Khairatabad MLA D Nagender resigned in a few hours and joined the grand old party.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress continued its impressive performance and won 8 of 17 seats. The BRS could not win any seats, while the BJP also bagged 8. The BRS' vote share dropped by a whopping 24.48 per cent to 16.68 per cent. The BRS' declining performance may cause a further exodus of leaders to Congress and the BJP, which is gaining ground in the southern state. 

(With inputs from PTI)