KCR woos anti-Revanth leaders to subvert Congress

Hyderabad: Khammam seems to be emerging as one of the prestigious Assembly segments for the Congress and the BRS. A ferocious competition seems to be on for the 10 Assembly seats in the old Khammam district. While the Congress is in an upbeat mood following the migration of Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy from the ruling party, BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao took serious note of this development and is now making all-out efforts to implement a strategy to weaken the Congress in Khammam.

The BRS has embarked on a mission to poach strong ’anti- Revanth’ group leaders in the Congress. How far the pink party will succeed in this effort remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, speculations are strong that KCR has been successful in convincing about a dozen Congress leaders, including two MLAs, to join the BRS. It is being said that Damodara Rajanarasimha from the old Medak district is also under the radar of KCR. It is being claimed by the ruling party leaders that Rajanarasimha would join the BRS before August end. It is said that KCR is of the opinion that if the BRS succeeds in winning over some important Congress leaders, not only in old Khammam district, but also in other districts, the Congress would be incapacitated. If the claims of the BRS are to be believed, two senior leaders -- one form old Nalgonda -- N Uttam Kumar Reddy and another from Khammam -- P Sudarshan Reddy, along with a few others from old Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy and Warangal districts will join the BRS. Another important name that is in circulation is that of former MP Ponnam Prabhakar, who feels he is being ignored in the Congress. The BRS is laying special attention on these and wants to poach the leaders as it is weak in these constituencies.

It may be recalled that Uttam Kumar Reddy had been repeatedly denying all such rumours. The Congress feels that the BRS was indulging in mind game and that no leader would quit the Congress. But the BRS leadership says that KCR being a master strategist will be the final winner.