Jolt to BRS as ex-BRS minister and close aide of KCR joins Congress

In a big jolt to the Bhartiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS), former minister J Krishna Rao, who was a close aide to the BRS chief and Telangana chief minister, K.C. Rao on Thursday, August 3, joined Congress.

Along with his supporters and MLA, K Gurnath Reddy, Rao met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence. Sources said he will be given an important role in the upcoming assembly election.  

Earlier it was said that Rao and others will join Congress at a public meeting to be addressed by AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in Kollapur but the meeting was postponed due to rain and floods.

Sources said that the Congress leaders did not want to delay the joining as BRS government was exerting pressure on him and his followers. Many of the BRS leaders who were in talk with the grand old party returned to the BRS fold under pressure, said sources.

“The public meeting will be held later after the Parliament session,” Congress sources said.

Rao joining Congress is significant as Congress is the main challenger to the BRS that has ruled the state for almost a decade. Buoyed by its electoral win in Karnataka, analysts believe, Congress is well prepared to wrest power from the BRS in Telangana.