Wary KCR starts reverse poaching

Hyderabad: In a bid to counter the poaching of sulking BRS leaders by the aggressive Congress, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has launched a big exercise to lure Opposition party leaders into the pink party.

In a major development on Thursday, Y Narotham, senior Congress leader from the Zaheerabad Assembly constituency, joined the BRS in the presence of KCR at Pragati Bhavan.

This development came after Health Minister T Harish Rao held a series of parleys with the Congress leader. Leaders said that KCR had asked the BRS leadership to identify the Congress leaders who are ready to join the BRS from various districts.

KCR, sources said, felt that the BRS should go aggressive to counter the Congress which is focussing on new joinings and ‘ghar wapsi’ programme. Recently, it had succeeded in admitting Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who had quit the BRS. Another leader Jupally Krishna Rao, who also quit the BRS along with Ponguleti, will be joining the Congress soon at a public meeting in Mahbubnagar.

If more such joinings into the Congress continued, there is a possibility that the pink party cadre may feel little demoralised. To ensure that the rank and file are battle ready, KCR has decided to rope in all those who were important but disgruntled in the Congress particularly in south Telangana districts, where the Congress has considerable influence.

South Telangana districts include old Nalgonda, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy and Medak. Here the Congress is strong from village to the Assembly constituency level. TPCC president A Revanth Reddy has been trying to poach BRS leaders from these districts.

Party MLAs, ministers and BRS district party presidents have been asked to prepare the list of influential Congress leaders in all Assembly segments.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao will schedule the dates for the joining of Congress leaders once the party leaders succeed in convincing the disgruntled leaders to join the BRS.

Sources said KCR feels that reverse poaching would demoralise the Congress and would put brakes on their efforts to disturb the BRS. Meanwhile, the BRS team is said to have succeeded in preventing a senior BJP leader, former MP and industrialist from joining the Congress and that he had now agreed to join the BRS. The name of the leader, they say, would be announced later this week.