Peeved over alliance with BSP, BRS leader to join Congress

Hyderabad: A leader of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has decided to join the Congress party following the decision of the BRS leadership to have an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

Former MLA Koneru Konappa has called a meeting of his supporters to chalk out a future course of action.

He is likely to meet Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy later Wednesday to switch loyalties to the Congress party.

The loyalists of former MLA from the Sirupur constituency in Komaram Bheem district have reacted strongly to the BRS decision to have an alliance with the BSP.

BSP state president R.S. Praveen Kumar had contested from Sirpur in the recent Assembly elections. Koneru Konappa’s supporters say their leader lost the election due to Praveen Kumar entering the fray.

Koneru Konappa, a three-time MLA, suffered defeat at the hands of BJP’s P. Harish Babu by a margin of 3,000 votes. Praveen Kumar, a former IPS officer, finished third.

It was in 2004 that Koneru Konappa was first elected from Sirpur on a Congress ticket. He later joined the BSP and was elected from the same seat in 2014. However, immediately after the election, he defected to TRS (now BRS). He retained the seat in 2018 on a BRS ticket.

BRS and BSP announced their alliance on Tuesday after a meeting between BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Praveen Kumar.

The former chief minister has expressed willingness to leave some Lok Sabha seats for the BSP. The details of seat-sharing are likely to be announced after talks between K. Chandrasekhar Rao and BSP leader Mayawati.