In yet another jolt to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) ahead of Lok Sabha elections, its sitting MP from Chevella, G. Ranjith Reddy on Sunday resigned from the party and decided to join the Congress.
Ranjith Reddy was “unhappy” with the BRS leadership after he was denied renomination from Chevella seat.
In his resignation letter to BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Ranjith Reddy wrote that due to current political circumstances in the state, he came to the difficult decision to pursue an alternative path.
The BRS has already announced Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj as its candidate for Chevella, a constituency comprising Assembly segments around Hyderabad.
Ranjith Reddy had resigned from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join BRS in November last year ahead of the Assembly elections.
The Congress party had cleared the name of Patnam Sunitha Reddy, wife of former minister Patnam Mahender Reddy, from Chevella but her candidature was withheld at the last minute. The party is now likely to consider Ranjith Reddy for the ticket.
Sunitha Reddy, chairperson of Vikarabad Zilla Parishad, had resigned from BRS and joined the Congress in February.
Ranjith Reddy is the fifth sitting MP of BRS to switch loyalties either to the Congress or BJP during the last one month.
He is the second BRS MP to quit the party and join the ruling party in as many days.
On Saturday, Warangal MP Pasunuri Dayakar resigned from BRS and joined Congress. He too was denied ticket.
BRS has fielded Kadiam Kavya from Warangal (SC). She is the daughter of senior leader and former deputy chief minister Kadiam Srihari.
BRS sitting from Peddapalli, B. Venkatesh Netha had joined Congress in February.
Nagarkurnool MP Pothuganti Ramulu along with his son Pothuganti Bharat and Zahirabad MP B. B. Patil also joined the BJP last month.
The BJP has given tickets to Bharat and Patil from Nagarkurnool and Zahirabad respectively.
The BRS had won nine out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana in the 2019 elections.