Ahead of the bypoll at Munugode, “gharwapsi” seems to be the growing trend among a few BJP leaders. They had been with the TRS in the past, now they have once again hopped on to the TRS bandwagon blaming the Saffron party for trying to win the byelection with money bags and liquor.

In this race for one-upmanship, the TRS has surged ahead as it got three BJP leaders, all from the weaker sections, to join the party after the saffron party lured a former TRS MP, Boora Narsaiah Goud, into its fold hoping to corner substantial “Goud” votes in Munugode. While Goud had blamed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for undermining the backward classes in the party, the BJP leaders who joined TRS today complained that the BJP has no place for people from weaker sections.

The retaliation saw two BJP leaders, Sravan Dasoju and Swamy Goud being welcomed into the TRS today in the presence of party’s working president KT Rama Rao, accompanied by a great deal of hugging and back thumping. While Dasoju had quit Congress in August to join BJP, Swamy Goud had joined the Saffron party from TRS in 2020. Another BJP leader Bikshamaiah Goud who joined TRS yesterday had joined the pink party from Congress and then went to BJP.

Dasoju, in his resignation letter to BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, slammed the Telangana unit of the party for being directionless and using liquor, meat and money to lure voters. “The Telangana BJP is in an uncertain and directionless situation. The BJP said they will offer an alternative but the strategy you are following in Munugode is baffling. Elections mean bags of money, big contractors and clearly there is no place for people like me who are from weaker sections,” he wrote.

The former spokesperson of AICC who had quit the Congress blaming the current state chief A Revanth Reddy’s style of functioning said he had joined the BJP with many expectations, but realised within a short time that that directionless state party and its destructive politics was not going to help Telangana. He further said: “I condemn the way you think you can win Munugode bypoll by distributing bundles of money before implementing welfare policies for the people.”

Dasoju, who was once in the TRS, joined the Congress in 2014 and has contested elections in the past but failed to win. He then left the Congress just a few days after K Rajagopal Reddy quit Congress and resigned from Munugode seat to force the bypoll and contest the seat this time as BJP candidate. Dasoju even campaigned in Munugode before deciding to dump the BJP and return to the Congress.