Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao visited Goa on Monday, March 25 where BRS MLAs have been camping for the past week. According to party sources, the MLAs and several party members elected to local bodies have been sent to Goa to avoid poaching by the ruling Congress party led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy amid a wave of defections. The development also comes ahead of the Telangana State Legislative Council bye-election for the Mahabubnagar Local Bodies constituency scheduled to be held on March 28.
In a Local Bodies constituency's MLC election, MLAs, members of Municipal Corporations, Municipalities, Nagar Panchayats, Cantonment Boards, Zilla Praja Parishads and Mandal Praja Parishads are eligible to cast their votes.
The election will be held on March 28 and counting of votes will be held on April 2. On the other hand, Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to take place on May 13 in Telangana.
The MLC position which was earlier held by Kasi Reddy Narayana Reddy became vacant after he resigned from BRS ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections and joined Congress. He was elected as MLA from Kalvakurthi constituency on a Congress ticket, necessitating the bye-election. BRS has nominated N Naveen Kumar Reddy as the party candidate, while Congress has nominated Manney Jeevan Reddy.
Jeevan Reddy too quit BRS and joined the Congress party last month. A former member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board (TTD), he is the nephew of BRS MP from Mahabubnagar, Manney Srinivas Reddy.
Though the Congress enjoys a majority in the Legislative Assembly, it only has four members in the Legislative Council. BRS dominates the upper house with 24 out of 40 members.
Ahead of elections, three sitting Lok Sabha members and one MLA from BRS quit the party. MP Ranjith Reddy from Chevella and MP Pansuri Dayakar from Warangal have joined Congress while Nagarkurnool BRS MP Pothuganti Ramulu joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Two members of the Legislative council- Patnam Mahender Reddy and Kusukuntla Damodar Reddy joined Congress. Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender recently switched from BRS to Congress and will contest from the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat.
Patnam Sunitha Reddy, who is wife of MLC Mahender Reddy and also Chairperson of Vikarabad Zilla Parishad joined Congress. Sunitha has been nominated to contest from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat.