Another BRS MLA defected to the Congress in Telangana on Saturday, bringing the total number of defectors to seven. The BRS MLA from Gadwal, Bandla Krishna Mohan, Reddy joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister and PCC president A Revanth Reddy and AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi.

The Telangana government has also appointed former BRS MP K Keshava Rao as the adviser to the government (public affairs), with the status of a Cabinet Minister. Rao rejoined the Congress recently after spending a decade in the BRS. His daughter, Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, who is also the Mayor of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), joined the Congress in March this year. On Saturday, she faced the ire of the BRS corporators, who protested against her, demanding her resignation along with that of the Deputy Mayor, who too had quit the BRS to join the Congress. Before the defections, the Congress had only two members and the BRS had formed the board. The protests resulted in the adjournment of the council meeting within 15 minutes as the Mayor left the chamber.

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The BRS has accused the Congress of encouraging defections in the state. “If the blatant political defections are not stopped due to wilful neglect of the constitutional institutions it is better for the Election Commission of India to stop the elections, hold auctions, and reserve MLA seats for the highest bidder… Elected representatives are being blackmailed, intimidated, or bought, making a mockery of the electoral verdict of the people and the entire electoral process,” BRS leader Srravan Dasoju said.

Amit Shah’s name deleted from chargesheet

The Moghulpura police have withdrawn a case pertaining to the violation of the model code of conduct against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy since the allegations against them could not be established. On 2 May, an FIR was lodged against Shah and others, including BJP candidate Madhavi Latha, following a complaint by PCC leader G Niranjan that minor children were used for campaigning at a rally in Shali Banda where the Union Home Minister had delivered a speech. The children had held aloft the BJP’s symbol. However, since the police have dropped the names of Shah and Reddy from the chargesheet, the PCC leader was ordered to appear before the court by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on 10 July. After the names of Shah and Reddy were deleted, the BRS claimed this development was the fallout of a meeting between Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Home Minister. The BRS also said this was another indication of the rising bonhomie between Revanth Reddy and the BJP.