After BRS failed to win even one seat in the Lok Sabha elections, defections have once again started with party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s one of the most trusted associates and former Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy today joining the Congress.

However, there was high drama as the BRS leaders reached the residence of Srinivas Reddy, the MLA of Banswada, and tried to obstruct Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s convoy before they were arrested by the police. According to the Congress, some 20 BRS MLAs are ready to join the party in near future. Pocharam Srinivas Reddy was the fourth BRS MLA to shift to the Congress after Danam Nagender, Tella Venkat Reddy and Kadiam Srihari.

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The Congress kicked off Operation Akarsh in Telangana once again as Chief Minister Reddy reached the residence of the BRS MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy in the morning along with his Cabinet colleagues for breakfast. Later, Revanth Reddy welcomed the Banswada MLA to the Congress with a shawl in party colours. “We will take the help of Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to complete the pending projects in Nizamabad. He will also get a suitable post,” said Revanth Reddy, adding that the government will take his advice before making policy decisions related to farmers.

“As I come from a farmer’s family, and realising the government’s commitment towards the farmers’ welfare, I decided to join the Congress,” said Srinivas Reddy who joined the party with his son Bhaskar Reddy. He added that he had started his political career as a Congressman and returned to it.

However, there was high drama as a group of BRS leaders led by Balka Suman gathered at his residence in Banjara Hills following reports of the chief minister’s arrival. Police arrested them after a scuffle as they tried to stop the chief minister’s convoy from leaving.

Srinivas Reddy, a confidant of KCR was previously in TDP before he joined the TRS in 2011 during the peak of Telangana movement. His defection is an indication of the vulnerability of BRS after losing the Assembly elections last year. Danam Nagender, the BRS-turned Congress MLA recently urged his fellow BRS MLAs to join the Congress to save their political career. However, the BRS said the chief minister was trying to divert attention from the failures of his government by engineering defections. BRS leader Dasoju Sravan Kumar said “ Revanth Reddy’s actions are an attempt to divert focus from his poll promises and deflect from the true essence of public service and governance, reflecting a betrayal of Rajiv Gandhi’s vision for a principled and transparent political landscape.” With the ED raiding some of the BRS MLAs’ properties, the BJP too seems to be keen to ensure some of them come their way too.