Mahipal Reddy sitting in opposition benches in the Assembly raised eyebrows

Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy’s interaction with BRS legislators in the Assembly has sparked political interest, especially amid past defection charges. Other MLAs facing similar issues were also seen seated away, while discussions among leaders drew attention

Hyderabad: The bonhomie of Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy with Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators in the Assembly on Saturday raised many eyebrows. The Patancheru MLA is one among the 10 MLAs who faced defection charges. A disqualification petition was filed against him by the BRS on charges of defecting to the Congress.

However, on Saturday, during the voting of demands for grants in the Assembly, Gudem Mahipal Reddy sat next to BRS MLA from Narsapur Sunitha Laxma Reddy. Later, he sat with Kukatpally MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao and Qutbullapur MLA KP Vivekanand for some time. They were seen discussing and sharing lighter moments.

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All this happened when a few other BRS MLAs, including Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari and Banswada MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, occupied chairs away from the opposition benches. All these MLAs had also faced defection charges and Speaker G Prasad Kumar gave them a clean chit in the petition.

On a few occasions in the past, Gudem Mahipal Reddy had expressed his unhappiness over joining the Congress. The Patancheru MLA had also strongly defended placing BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao’s photograph in his office, despite objections raised by Congress leaders.

In another interesting development, Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy sat next to Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and Labour Minister G Vivek Venkatswamy in the House. They were seen discussing an issue seriously. Of late, the Munugode MLA has been very critical of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over a few issues.