Jumping ship according to the political weather is not new. The Telangana Assembly led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was dissolved on September 6, and the state has since been gearing up for elections. The party released a list of 105 candidates out of 119 for the constituencies in Telangana, and has resulted in a few defections.
Defections from the TRS
K Shiva Kumar Reddy: He won from Narayanpet in the Assembly 2014 elections on a TRS ticket. Along with his followers, he joined the Congress on September 5. Shiva Kumar said that he and his followers were disillusioned by the false promises made by the TRS.
Bhupathi Reddy: a member of the TRS for 14 years resigned from the party and joined Congress on September 15. Speaking to media after his resignation, Reddy claimed he was forced to leave the party as TRS was giving priority to those who betrayed Telangana. He is expected to contest from Nizamabad Rural constituency.
Ramesh Rathod: A former Member of Parliament, Ramesh had joined the TRS in 2017. He had jumped ship from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). After he was not given a ticket to contest from Khanapur (ST) in the upcoming Assembly polls by the TRS, a disgruntled Ramesh joined the Congress on September 20. He was a former Politburo member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Konda Surekha: The Women and Child Welfare Minister in the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government in united Andhra Pradesh, Surekha joined the Congress along with her husband, Konda Muralidhar Rao, an MLC. They joined the Congress from the TRS on September 26. They defected to the Congress after Surekha was upset that her name did not feature in the list of 105 candidates that TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao released. Surekha was first elected as an MLA in 1999 on a Congress ticket. She then resigned from the party in 2011, and joined the YSR Congress Party. Later, she contested the 2014 elections on a TRS ticket.
Bera Satyanarayana: On October 2, Mancherial Mandal Parishad president Bera Satyanarayana joined the Bahujan Samaj Party. He resigned from the TRS in protest of the party’s decision to give the ticket to sitting MLA N Diwakar.
Defections to the TRS
KR Suresh Reddy: Formerly the Assembly Speaker in united Andhra Pradesh, Suresh joined the TRS on September 7. He was invited to join the TRS by Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao shortly after the Telangana assembly was dissolved. Earlier, Suresh has contested from both Balkonda and Armoor constituencies of Nizamabad district. Which seat he will be contesting from this time is yet to be decided.