According to sources, he is seeking a switch to the Congress since he is unhappy with BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao.
Published Sep 29, 2023 | 7:57 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 29, 2023 | 7:57 PM
Motkupalli Narasimhulu with DK Shivakumar. (Supplied)
A day after the BRS lost three leaders to the Congress in Telangana, former state minister Motkupalli Narasimhulu also seemed headed to the grand old party.
Narasimhulu met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and the state’s Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Friday, 29 September.
Following the meeting, speculation is rife that Narasimhulu would be joining the Congress in the first week of October.
Narasimhulu was a TDP MLA from the Tungathurthi constituency in Telangana, but and parted ways with the party in 2018. He has been associated with the BRS since 2022.
According to sources, Narasimhulu is seeking a switch to the Congress since he is unhappy with BRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR.
After meeting Narasimhulu, Shivakumar wrote on X: “Motkupalli Narasimhulu, former Minister of Telangana and former MLA of Tungathurthi Assembly constituency, met me today at the home office.”
ತೆಲಂಗಾಣದ ಮಾಜಿ ಸಚಿವರು ಹಾಗೂ ತುಂಗತುರ್ತಿ ವಿಧಾನಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಮಾಜಿ ಶಾಸಕರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಮೊತ್ಕುಪಲ್ಲಿ ನರಸಿಂಹಲು ಅವರು ಇಂದು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಗೃಹ ಕಚೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಭೇಟಿಯಾದರು. pic.twitter.com/AKldUOVDMI
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) September 29, 2023
Meanwhile, an insider from the BRS told South First that Narasimhulu was contemplating leaving the party as he was not given an appointment to meet KCR despite trying several times.
“Motkupalli Narsimhulu has decided to join the Congress. He will return to Hyderabad and conduct a meeting to communicate his decision to the public very soon,” the source said.
The source also said that Narasimhulu had been staying away from BRS party events.
“He asked for an appointment to meet KCR several times. However, he received no response from Pragathi Bhavan. It is reported that when he joined the party, KCR promised to give him a key post but he is being ignored now,” the source added.
It is also said that Narasimhulu accused the Telangana chief minister of being a casteist man.
Narasimhulu was expecting to get the BRS ticket to contest from the Alair constituency in the upcoming state Assembly polls, but the chief minister decided to go with party MLA G Sunitha Reddy.
He has been deeply dissatisfied with the leadership of the party for some time now. With the recent development, it seems that he is prepared to resign from the BRS, to join the Congress.
Srinivasualu, according to the source, seems to think that the Congress is the right platform for his political future.
In an earlier interview to regional media, he cleared the air, saying, “If one big brother (KCR) says no then I will have to see other political offerings. I have no interest in acquiring a ticket because I have won six times. Now, if they announce me as a candidate, I will fight but if they ask for my political experience as guidance, I will work for that as well.”
He announced that he received an invitation from the Congress.
Narasimhulu recently launched a campaign against the arrest of TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and was also going to to meet him in the prison through the Mulaqat programme.
Due to the rule that only two people are allowed to meet him, he could not visit Naidu but said that he would definitely communicate with him after his release.
Narasimhulu worked for the TDP from the beginning. He was in the party for decades. He became an MLA from Alair on a TDP ticket, and then a minister in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.
He contested from Thungathurthy in 2009. In the next election, following the formation of Telangana in 2014, he lost and was away from politics for some years.
On Thursday, BRS Malkajgiri MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao and his son Mynampally Rohith joined the Congress in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and president of the Telangana state unit Revanth Reddy, in New Delhi.
Hanumantha Rao, who was on the warpath since the BRS announced its list of candidates for the forthcoming election to the Telangana Assembly, had resigned from the party earlier in the week, penning an angry missive to Chandrashekar Rao.
Also joining the party along with the Mynampally duo was former BRS Nakrekal MLA Vemula Veeresham. He served as MLA from 2014 to 2018.
Anil Kumar Reddy from Bhongir constituency was also seen in a video the party shared. Anil Kumar, who had recently joined the ruling BRS, was welcomed back to the fold.
The Congress is likely to allot the Bhongir ticket to Anil Kumar, ignoring another aspirant and Backward Class (BC) leader Ch Venkanna Yadav.
In August, former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao joined the Congress from the BRS. There are also speculations that Thummala Nageshwara Rao will be joining the Congress.
However, BRS working President KT Rama Rao had, on 26 September, in a discussion with the media on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Telangana, also commented on Mynampally Hanumantha Rao and leaders leaving the party.
“It is the time for elections and members of one party will leave and join other political parties. The same will happen with the Congress party. Tomorrow, the politicians of Congress may come and join the ruling party BRS,” he had said.
