This development must be unnerving for the BRS, which is fighting a losing battle in retaining its leaders.
File photo of K Keshava Rao and GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakashmi with BRS MLC K Kavitha (GadwalvijayaTRS/X)
BRS Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao and his daughter, Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, conferred with the AICC in-charge of Telangana Deepa Dasmunsi in Hyderabad for over an hour on Friday, 12 March, setting off speculation that the father-daughter duo might join the Congress.
Dasmunsi, accompanied by the Chief Minister’s Advisor (Public Affairs) Vem Narender Reddy and another leader, Rohin Reddy, visited Keshava Rao and Vijayalakshmi and reportedly invited them to the Congress.
This development must be unnerving for the BRS, which is fighting a losing battle in retaining its leaders. Three Lok Sabha members and one MLA have already left the party.
The steady stream of former legislators joining Congress or the BJP may not end soon.
The rumour mill has been working overtime since Vijayalakshmi met Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in February.
Vijayalakshmi explained the meeting was apolitical and routine and was about issues related to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
It is not clear if Keshava Rao will also take the leap. However, his presence during the Dasmunsi-Vijayalakshmi talks Vijayalaskhmi is intriguing.
If it happens, Keshava Rao’s exit will significantly harm the BRS as he was K Chandrashekar Rao’s trusted lieutenant for the last decade.
Originally from the Congress, he was the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president in 2005 and a minister.
He left the party in 2013 to support the Telangana movement and joined the BRS.
Subsequently, he became a Rajya Sabha member, was named the TRS Parliamentary Party leader, and became the BRS’s secretary-general.
The BRS is worried, understandably. Deputy Mayor Mothe Srilatha Reddy of the BRS has joined the Congress with her husband and BRS leader Siobhan Reddy.
Former Mayor of GHMC Bonthu Ramamohan and former deputy mayor Baba Fasiuddin have also shifted to the Congress camp.
As the Lok Sabha polling date nears, the BRS’s frowns about migration to the Congress deepen. Recently, Chevella MP G Ranith Reddy joined the Congress and is now the party candidate from there.
The run on the BRS began with Peddapally BRS MP Venkatesh Nethakani. He was the first to leave the BRS and join the Congress.
Warangal MP Pasunuru Dayakar took the plunge as well.
Zaheerabad sitting BRS MP BB Patil joined the BJP and is now the candidate for the same Lok Sabha seat.
