Ex-Telangana minister Tummala Nageswara Rao quits BRS, will join Cong

Hyderabad: Telangana’s former minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Saturday resigned from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and declared that he will join the Congress party.

He will officially join the Congress on Sunday at the public meeting to be addressed by party President Mallikarjun Kharge and top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Suspended BJP leaders Balakrishna Reddy and Yennam Srinivasa Reddy will also join the party.

Rao quit the BRS a day after AICC in-charge for Telangana Manikrao Thakrey along with Telangana Congress President A. Revanth Reddy had met him at his residence in Hyderabad. Last month, Revanth Reddy had invited Rao to join the Congress party.

The joining coincides with the crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) beginning in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Rao was miffed with BRS after he was denied ticket from the Palair constituency for the coming Assembly elections. BRS has given ticket to Kandla Upender Reddy, who was elected on Congress ticket in 2018 but later defected to the BRS.

Nageswara Rao was elected on BRS ticket from Palair in the 2016 by-election. In 2018, he lost to Upender Reddy.

After the denial of the ticket, the former minister held a massive show of strength in Khammam and told his supporters that he will contest the coming Assembly election.

Nageswara Rao’s joining is likely to give a big boost to the party’s prospects in undivided Khammam district.

The Congress was already upbeat after former Khammam MP and suspended BRS leader Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy had joined the party.

With inputs from PTI