Hyderabad: The opposition BRS entering into a political alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Telangana has triggered a mini-revolt of sorts within the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) with former MLA from Sirpur, Koneru Konappa, all but announcing his quitting the party and joining the Congress.
Konappa on Wednesday called on Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy at his residence. He was accompanied by minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and some of his key followers. It is expected that he will soon join the Congress.
Though word has been doing the rounds that he has been unhappy in the BRS for quite some time, the trigger for Wednesday’s meeting with Revanth Reddy is said to be the BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao’s decision to enter into a political alliance with the BSP led by R.S. Praveen Kumar in the state. Konappa believes that his defeat in the last Assembly elections was because Praveen Kumar, who had also contested and lost from Sirpur, garnered votes which otherwise would have gone to the BRS.
This being the case and with Konappaa also taking this aspect to the notice of the party leadership earlier, Chandrashekar Rao announcing the tie-up with BSP was the last straw for Konappa, it is learnt. It may be recalled that the BRS has been witnessing a steady stream of desertions over the past few days, including some of its sitting MPs joining the BJP or Congress.
Among those who quit were Zaheerabad MP B.B. Patil, Nagarkurnool MP P. Ramulu, both of whom joined the BJP, and the MP from Pedddapalli, Dr. B. Venkatesh Neta who has joined the Congress party.
