Strategist of BJP’s bypoll successes in Telangana, G Vivekanand returns to Congress with Lok Sabha ticket in mind

Vivekanand, 66, won as a Congress candidate from the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat in 2009 but lost to the BRS in 2014. He moved to the BRS in 2016 and then to the BJP in 2019.

Vivekanand, BRS, bjp, congress, telangana, telangana news, hyderabad, indian express

Vivekanand, vice-chairman of Visaka Industries and promoter of V6 Telugu news channel and Telugu newspapers, joined the BRS in June 2016. (@DrGVivekanand/X)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Telangana BJP leader G Vivekanand Wednesday resigned from the party and will return to the Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi in Hyderabad. The former MP from Peddapalli joined the BJP in August 2019 from the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and was the BJP’s manifesto committee chairman.

Vivekanand, 66, won as a Congress candidate from the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat in 2009. He lost to the BRS’s Balka Suman in 2014. Vivekanad’s father, G Venkat Swamy, was a three-time MP from Peddapalli, having won in 1989, 1991, and 1996.

Vivekanand, vice-chairman of Visaka Industries and promoter of V6 Telugu news channel and Telugu newspapers, joined the BRS in June 2016. He was appointed adviser to the state government by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

Story continues below this ad

ALSO READ | Telangana polls: Bested twice, can Bandi Sanjay Kumar avoid a hat-trick of losses?

However, when denied a ticket in the 2019 elections, he quit the party and joined BJP. He played a crucial role in planning and making the strategy for the BJP to win the bypolls in Dubbaka and Huzurabad. He also played a vital role in the Munugode bypoll, although the BJP lost to the BRS. Recently, Vivekanand started staying aloof from BJP activities and not attending the party programmes.

Sources said he is seeking a ticket from the Congress for himself and his son G Vamsi, who also attended a meeting with Rahul Gandhi Wednesday. Vamsi is the joint managing director at Visaka Industries.

‘Double bonanza for poor, middle class’: PM’s swadeshi pitch ahead of new GST roll out

India6 hr ago

PM Modi announced the rollout of new GST rates, calling it a "GST bachat utsav" and promising cheaper prices for medicines, insurance, and daily essentials. He emphasized that these reforms would ease doing business, attract investment, and benefit the poor, middle class, MSMEs, farmers, women, traders, and youth. He urged citizens to promote swadeshi goods.

View all shorts

Live Blog