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BRS MP quits party, joins BJP ahead of LS polls
Telangana MP Pothuganti Ramulu resigns from Bharat Rashtra Samithi and joins BJP, citing admiration for PM Modi's policies. More defections expected.
Senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and Telangana parliamentarian Pothuganti Ramulu on Thursday resigned from the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the general elections.
Ramulu, along with his son Bharat and three other BRS leaders, were inducted into the party in the BJP office in New Delhi by party in-charge of Telangana affairs Tarun Chugh and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Speaking to reporters later, Ramulu said he had joined the BJP inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts in making India a superpower in the world. “I was impressed with the Modi government’s policies and programmes for the overall development of the country and particularly, eradication of poverty,” the MP said.
Welcoming Ramulu and his son into the party, Tarun Chugh said several leaders were deserting the BRS as it was a sinking ship and were joining the BJP. He described Ramulu as a leader with unblemished character and his services were “very much essential for the BJP” in Telangana.
“I am confident that the welfare and development schemes taken up by the Modi government will help the BJP win all the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana,” Chugh said.
The 71-year-old MP, representing Nagarkurnool parliamentary constituency, had been keeping away from the BRS activities for quite some time. He is expecting the BJP ticket for him, or his son Bharat in the coming elections.
A native of Gunduru village in Kalwakurthy mandal, Ramulu previously worked as a government teacher. After quitting government service, he joined politics in 1994. He was elected as an MLA on a TDP ticket thrice — in the 1994, 1999 and 2009 elections — from Achampet assembly segment.
He served as the sports and youth services minister in N Chandrababu Naidu’s cabinet. After the formation of Telangana state, he quit the TDP and joined the BRS (then TRS). He went on to win in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Nagarkurnool.
A Telangana BJP leader familiar with the development said another Lok Sabha member of the BRS – B B Patil from Zaheerabad, is also likely to quit his party and join the BJP in a day or two. “He is also presently in New Delhi, holding discussions with the top BJP leaders for the party ticket from Zaheerabad again,” the BJP leader said.
According to the party leader, the BJP national leadership is going to announce the names of at least eight candidates from Telangana for the Lok Sabha elections shortly. “They include three of the four sitting MPs – G Kishan Reddy from Secunderabad, Bandi Sanjay from Karimnagar and Dharmapuri Arvind from Nizamabad. The party might not consider the name of fourth sitting MP – Soyam Bapu Rao from Adilabad this time,” he said.
There is a tough competition for the BJP ticket from Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency, though there is a talk within the party that the national leadership might finalise the candidacy of former minister Eatala Rajender.
“The party has more or less finalised the names of former MPs Konda Vishweshwar Reddy from Chevella and Boora Narsaiah Goud from Bhongir. For Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat, the party is facing a competition between former MP A P Jitender Reddy and BJP national vice president D K Aruna,” the party leader quoted above said.
Till the filing of this report, the BRS leaders did not make any comments over the defection of the MP.
