Congress leaders in Patancheru feel cheated after party inducts BRS MLA

While there were rumours on Mahipal Reddy joining the Congress over the last one month, Goud's followers had shared several messages on social media suggesting that the party should not to take him in.

Sangareddy: The induction of Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy from the BRS into the Congress has disappointed many local leaders of the party in Patancheru constituency.

The party’s assembly constituency in-charge Kata Srinivas Goud, who had contested against Mahipal Reddy in a losing cause in the 2018 and 2023 assembly elections, has opposed the induction of Mahipal Reddy. Goud, who sees Mahipal Reddy as his political rival in the constituency, had lost the 2023 election by a slender margin of 7,000 votes.

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While there were rumours on Mahipal Reddy joining the Congress over the last one month, Goud’s followers had shared several messages on social media suggesting that the party should not to take him in. Goud and his followers also stayed away when Mahipal Reddy joined in Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad on Monday.

A Congress leader said they had fought against Mahipal Reddy, a three-time MLA from Patancheru since 2014, all their lifetime spending their resources and time. During the last 10 years, they were in the opposition when Reddy used his power to suppress them, he alleged, saying that they were now cheated by the party leadership as they were forced to work under Reddy now.

Goud’s followers also fear that they would not get enough opportunities to contest in the forthcoming local body elections. Goud, who hails from Ameenpur municipality, was preparing to field his wife Sudharani or a close aide in the upcoming elections.

However, the incumbent municipal chairman Tummala Panduranga Reddy, a BRS leader and close follower of Mahipal Reddy, and other leaders also joined Congress along with him. Mahipal Reddy would certainly press for Panduranga Reddy’s candidature in the upcoming municipal elections, they feel.

Though Goud was not making any statement openly, they are said to have expressed their views before the district minister Damodara Raja Narasimha. However, the Minister could not stop Mahipal Reddy’s joining as he got the acceptance of the Chief Minister.

With the local body elections fast approaching, the differences between Mahipal Reddy and Srinivas Goud could throw up challenges for the party in the coming days.