BRS MLA makes his way back to party, setback for Congress, CM Revanth Reddy

BRS leader Dasoju Srravan, who welcomed Krishna Reddy back into the party, told The Indian Express: “His return is a good sign and was bound to happen as the BRS sustained his political life. It just shows how Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is violating the anti-defection law. The Gadwal MLA’s return will open the doors for other leaders to return. They have realised their mistake and several of them are in touch with the high command.”

Krishna Reddy’s departure is also a personal setback for Revanth Reddy as his Gadwal seat falls in the erstwhileMahbubnagar district, which is the CM’s pocketborough.

Many of Krishna Reddy’s supporters admitted that they too were surprised at his latest switch. “While he had discussed his move to the Congress with the cadre and second-rung leadership, there were no discussions about him going back to the BRS. However, it is true that the second-rung leadership was not very happy with him joining the Congress,” Mandal Parishad President (MPP) of Gadwal and BRS leader Prathap Goud told The Indian Express.

Krishna Reddy began his political career with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2009 and unsuccessfully contested the GADWAL Assembly seat. He lost to his aunt and then Congress candidate D K Aruna. In 2014, Krishna Reddy again lost from Gadwal to Aruna.

In the 2018 Assembly polls finally, Krishna Reddy defeated Aruna, but his victory was marred by controversy. In August 2023, hearing a plea filed by Aruna, the Telangana High Court annulled his victory for failure to disclose his assets correctly in his election affidavit. The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the High Court order.

In 2022, Krishna Reddy was embroiled in a controversy after he allegedly assaulted and abused a government school principal over the delay in sending him the invitation for the opening ceremony of a school in his constituency.

By 2023, Krishna Reddy had moved to the BRS, and was nominated by the party as its candidate from the Gadwal seat. This time he defeated the Congress’s Sarita Tirupathaiah by just over 7,000 votes.

By March 2019, his aunt Aruna too had switched sides, from the Congress to the BJP. She is currently the Mahabubnagar MP as well as a BJP national vice-president.

BRS sources said Krishna Reddy felt “suffocated” in the Congress, and hence his return to the BRS. “He shared with us how he was being overlooked on a number of things,” an aide said, though admitting that they expected Krishna Reddy and the Congress to “work things out”. “His return to the BRS comes as a shock.”

For BRS leaders, especially those in Gadwal, the move has come as a fresh breath of air. “This is a huge setback for Revanth Reddy. We expect more MLAs to return to the party fold. The Congress can only fool people for a certain amount of time,” a leader in Dharur mandal of Jogulamba Gadwal district said.

Congress sources admitted they did not see the move coming. “Krishna Mohan garu was treated very well in the party. Many times since his joining, he had expressed his happiness. But there was no sign that he wanted to return,” a senior Congress leader said, commenting on the timing ahead of Revanth Reddy’s coming US visit.

Apart from Krishna Reddy, the MLAs to have left the BRS for the Congress since its loss include T Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar), Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Banswada), Danam Nagender (Khairatabad), Kale Yadaiah (Chevella), Dr Sanjay Kumar (Jagtial), Kadiam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam), Arekapudi Gandhi (Serilingampalli) and Gudem Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru).