Gudem Mahipal Reddy caught between Congress and BRS as Patancheru stares at by-election

With the Supreme Court directing the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification pleas of 10 BRS MLAs, Patancheru may face a by election. MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy, who joined Congress, is politically isolated as both parties move away

Sangareddy: With the Supreme Court asking the Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad to take a decision on the disqualification of 10 BRS MLAs who switched loyalties post elections, the Patancheru Assembly constituency was also staring at a possible first by election after the constituency was created in 2009.

While Bharat Rastra Samithi (BRS) was in an upbeat mood to face the election at any time, the incumbent MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy, who switched loyalties post Assembly elections after winning on a BRS ticket for the third consecutive time in 2023, finds himself at a crossroads in his political career.

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Mahipal Reddy joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy after the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. However, most of the BRS cadre and leaders in the constituency remained with the party.

Since Mahipal Reddy had also faced serious opposition from Congress leaders, particularly from constituency incharge Kata Srinivas Goud after his joining, the Congress cadres stayed away from Mahipal Reddy.

Srinivas Goud had contested the last two Assembly elections against Mahipal Reddy on a Congress ticket for a losing cause. As the BRS Party has been fighting for the disqualification of 10 MLAs, Mahipal Reddy is likely to face action from the Speaker though he even appeared before the Speaker to present his case.

Since neither Congress nor BRS are owning him now, Reddy will have a tough time in facing the elections. Meanwhile, BRS cadre under the leadership of constituency coordinator V Adarsh Reddy and under the guidance of former minister T Harish Rao and party district president Chintha Prabhakar were in an upbeat mood to face the election.

The BRS Party had won all the three elections in Patancheru after Telangana was created in 2014. The party also took up a lot of development work during a decade of their rule here.