Turncoat MLA Mahipal Reddy faces political isolation in Patancheru

Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy, who defected from BRS to Congress post the 2024 MP elections, now faces disqualification threats and political isolation. Despite joining Congress, he remains distant from both parties, leaving voters and leaders guessing his next move.

Sangareddy: With the local body elections fast approaching, Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy finds himself at a political crossroads for the first time in his career. Reddy, who won the 2023 Assembly elections on a BRS ticket for the third consecutive term, switched loyalties to the Congress after the 2024 MP elections. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had welcomed him into the party by handing over the party scarf.

However, when faced with the threat of disqualification from the Assembly, Mahipal Reddy, who deposed before the Speaker recently, claimed he was still with the BRS but failed to explain why he was not participating in any of its programmes.

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Since his first election in 2014, the MLA’s residence would always be abuzz with political activity whenever an election notification was issued. This time, however, it remains unusually calm — a first in a decade. The people of Patancheru are closely watching his every move to see what his next political step will be.

Though Reddy joined the Congress in 2024, he has since maintained an equal distance from both the Congress and the BRS. The biggest question now in political circles is whether he will field his followers as Congress or BRS candidates, or even as independents to prove his strength.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and constituency in-charge Kata Srinivas Goud has strongly opposed giving any prominence to Mahipal Reddy within the party. On the other hand, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao and former Minister T. Harish Rao have repeatedly made it clear that turncoat MLAs will not be allowed back into the party fold.