New Delhi: Buoyed up by the big win in Karnataka, the Congress party has now set its eyes on neighbouring Telangana, where it is aggressively reaching out to leaders disillusioned with the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Former Khammam MP, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao will be welcomed into the grand-old party at a huge Congress rally in Khammam on Sunday, July 2, which will see the participation of the party’s top brass, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. Last week, on June 26, as many as 35 BRS leaders were welcomed into the party by Gandhi at the Congress headquarters in Delhi. The Congress expects more leaders to join its ranks, with the assembly elections in the state slated for December this year.Winds of change are sweeping through Telangana.In a big boost to the Congress party’s prospects, more and more people are aligning with us to take the message of love and prosperity forward.Today, senior leaders from Telangana joined the Congress party in the presence of… pic.twitter.com/1vLGzPN1aC— Congress (@INCIndia) June 26, 2023With Sunday’s rally, dubbed as Jana Garjana (People’s Roar), the Congress party is expected to sound the poll bugle and make a slew of promises to the people of Telangana, before the election manifesto is fully out. The meeting will coincide with the conclusion of a ‘People’s March’ by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. He has been on a foot march across the state, covering nearly 1,200 kms in about 100 days.As for Srinivas Reddy, he is seen as a strongman in Khammam, where the BRS is weak. He managed to win as YSR Congress MP in 2014 and even helped that party win three MLA seats despite the fact YSR Congress has no presence in Telangana. Although he later joined BRS, he had an uneasy relationship with KCR’s party. As the distance between BRS leadership and Srinivas Reddy grew, he was suspended on allegations of anti-party activities by BRS in April. Since then, he has been weighing his options between Congress and the BJP.Jupally Krishna Rao, who is a five-time MLA from Kollur and a former minister, was also suspended by BRS in April this year on account of alleged anti-party activities. He also served as a Cabinet minister in the first term of BRS. Rao is said to have significant support in his home district of Mahabubnagar. The BJP has tried to get him on board. However, Rao has chosen to sail with the Congress, for his long-time political rival in the district, D.K. Aruna, is currently with the BJP. He was also earlier with Congress and worked as a minister under chief ministers Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy and Kiran Kumar Reddy.Two factors are driving the change of perception towards the Congress party in the state, with the win in Karnataka being the most obvious. After the BJP lost its ‘gateway to the south’, in the form of Karnataka, the saffron party unit in Telangana has been in disarray. Infighting and tussle over the leadership have come to affect the BJP, which until then projected itself as the only alternative to K. Chandrashekar Rao’s party in the state. This has turned the tide in favour of Congress, with political leaders viewing Congress as a better party than the BJP to take on the ruling BRS.
