BRS Rajendranagar MLA Prakash Goud with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS
The flow of BRS MLAs into Congress continued with Rajendranagar MLA Prakash Goud joining the ruling party in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday.
Mr. Goud, a former colleague of Mr. Revanth Reddy in TDP, is the 8th BRS MLA to have shifted loyalties so far. He met the CM last month and announced his desire to join the Congress. However, he refrained from taking the step for various reasons, including pressure from party cadre.
On Friday morning, Mr. Goud prayed at Tirumala and announced there that he would be joining the Congress. He termed AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as his political guru and said that Mr. Naidu has a vision for AP’s development.
Recently met KCR
Interestingly, Mr. Goud was part of the city MLAs’ delegation that met BRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao recently, to extend support to him amid rumours that several other MLAs were also jumping ship. However, within a week, he seems to have changed his mind.
Serilingampally MLA Arikepudi Gandhi is also planning to shift to the Congress in a day or two, according to sources. Some more MLAs are expected to join along with him but none has confirmed. Mr. Gandhi was also in the TDP along with Mr. Revanth Reddy.
Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Goud were elected on the TDP ticket in 2014 and defected to BRS (then TRS), a few months later.
Defection game
Sources said that the Chief Minister is keen on finishing the defection episode before the Assembly sessions on July 24 and announce the merger of the BRS Legislature Party (BRSLP) into Congress. For the merger, 26 out of 38 BRS MLAs must form a different group and express their willingness to merge with any other party.
The BRS won 39 seats in the 2023 Assembly elections but the number was reduced to 38 after Cantonment MLA Lasya Nandita passed away in a road accident. Congress won the bypoll in the Assembly taking its number to 65.
