Congress and BJP leaders join BRS in multiple Telangana districts ahead of polls

The BRS is witnessing an influx of Congress and BJP leaders from several Telangana districts as it seeks to rebuild its organisation after the 2023 Assembly election setback. The inductions include former district office-bearers and local constituency-level functionaries

Hyderabad: The steady movement of Congress and BJP leaders into the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is beginning to offer a measure of the political space the opposition party is seeking to reclaim, even as the next Assembly elections are more than two years away. What stands out is not just the frequency of the inductions since September, but the profile of some of the entrants and their spread across districts.

The political steam is picking up around the BRS well ahead of the electoral battle. The party suffered a setback in the 2023 Assembly elections and has since been working to rebuild its organisation. The entry of former district-level office-bearers and constituency functionaries is particularly relevant as these are leaders with local political connections, cadres and an understanding of electoral mobilisation.

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The list includes former Medchal-Malkajgiri DCC president Nandhikanti Sridhar, former Adilabad DCC president and Telangana NSUI president Bhargav Deshpande, former Ranga Reddy DCC vice-president B Sai Reddy, and others. Senior Manthani Congress leader Sadanandam and Khanapur Youth Congress president Atram Rahul are among the other entrants. There is a steady flow of local leaders at mandal and constituency levels which shows no signs of slowdown.

The BJP too has seen leaders shifting to the BRS. Mutyala and Suresh Kishtanna from Adilabad, besides local leaders from Boath, Armoor, Narsapur and Nirmal, have joined the party. The inductions have extended to Siddipet and other constituencies.

The geographical spread is notable. The joinings have been reported from Adilabad and Nirmal in the north, Nizamabad, Medak and Siddipet in the north-west, Karimnagar and Manthani, and the Ranga Reddy region around Hyderabad. This gives the BRS an opportunity to rebuild its local presence beyond individual constituencies and draw leaders from both parties competing for political space in Telangana. A significant number of mandal level leaders from erstwhile Mahabubnagar and Khammam also joined the party over the past six months.

There is also a timing factor. With no immediate Assembly election to force political alignments, the movement suggests that some local leaders are reassessing their positions well ahead of the next electoral cycle in tune with the shift in people’s sentiments. For the BRS, early inductions offer time to integrate new entrants, strengthen constituency networks and turn local dissatisfaction with rival parties into organisational gains.

The pattern is hinting that the BRS is finding openings within both the ruling Congress and the BJP, and that the contest for political ground is taking shape well before the election calendar begins to dominate.