In BRS leaders’ switch to Congress, Revanth Reddy builds muscle ahead of state chief choice

Rajya Sabha MP K Kesava Rao Wednesday quit the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to join the Congress, making him the seventh elected leader of the K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)-led party to switch allegiance to the grand old party in the recent past.

The party-hopping of BRS leaders comes at a time when Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who is also the Telangana Congress president, is making trips to Delhi to discuss Cabinet expansion as well as finalise his successor for the state chief’s post. He is likely to hold discussions with the AICC top brass in this regard on Thursday.

Congress insiders say Reddy may be trying to “solidify” his base within the party by “absorbing” leaders from the BRS, before vacating the post of Telangana Congress chief. “It is natural that a leader looks out for himself in politics as well as in the party. It is more important for Revanth to do so as he has been at loggerheads with many senior leaders since his meteoric rise in the Congress,” a former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) spokesperson said on the condition of anonymity.

Noting that the CM has the “largest say” in the appointment of a state chief, a party leader seen as close to Reddy also justified his approach as that of any other politician. “Revanth has found himself in the crosshairs of leaders since he joined the Congress. It is amazing how he kept the party united and single-handedly helped the Congress win last year’s Assembly polls. Now, to negate future threat to his standing within the party, he would like to make someone from his camp the TPCC chief. There is nothing wrong with that,” the leader said.

Revanth had joined the Congress in 2017 from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and rose to the TPCC chief’s position within six