Another Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislator T Prakash Goud from Rajendranagar assembly constituency in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district on Friday indicated that he would join the Congress in a day or two.
Goud met Pradesh Congress Committee president and chief minister A Revanth Reddy at the latter’s residence in Hyderabad in the morning and held discussions with him for about an hour.
“I shall join the Congress soon, along with my followers,” Goud said after meeting the chief minister.
The BRS MLA’s announcement came within 24 hours of party president and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao declaring at the meeting of BRS candidates for the May 13 general elections that at least 20 Congress MLAs were in touch with him and that the Revanth Reddy government would not last long.
Goud, who was elected on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ticket from Rajendranagar in 2009 and again in 2014, defected to the BRS later. He got re-elected from the same constituency again in 2018 and 2023.
Several leaders have deserted BRS after the party lost power in the assembly polls held last year.
{{/usCountry}}Several leaders have deserted BRS after the party lost power in the assembly polls held last year.
{{/usCountry}}If Goud joins the Congress, he will be the fourth BRS MLA to defect to the ruling party, the other three being D Nagender from Khairatabad constituency in Hyderabad, Kadiyam Srihari from Station Ghanpur in Warangal district and Tellam Venkat Rao, from Bhadrachalam in Khammam district.
The Congress has a strength of 64 MLAs in the 119-member state assembly and with four MLAs shifting their loyalties, the party strength will go up to 68.
Meanwhile, former MP and two-time MLA D Ravindra Naik also joined the Congress in the presence of Revanth Reddy on Friday. He had earlier quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).