Hyderabad: With former BRS minister Tummala Nageswara Rao agreeing in principle to join it, the Congress received a shot in the arm in the erstwhile Khammam district.
In another boost to the party, Mandava Venkateshwar Rao from Nizamabad is also joining the Congress.
Sources say that Nageswara Rao will discuss with his cadre and fix a date for his joining. He is said to have made it clear that having been given the opportunity to serve them, he is duty-bound to consult his constituency people before fixing the date of joining.
It may be recalled that former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who has a considerable influence in the district, had joined the Congress on June 2. The BRS had won only one seat with Puvvada Ajay winning from the Khammam Assembly constituency in the 2018 elections. The TD won two seats while the remaining ones were pocketed by the Congress.
Barring CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Podem Veeraiah, who won from Madhira and Bhadrachalam, respectively, the others switched over to the BRS.
Congress leaders who met Nageswara Rao included TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, Sudarshan Reddy and Mallu Ravi.
Meanwhile, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka who went to Tirumala for darshan of Lord Balaji, visited the graveyard of the late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy in Idupulapaya of Kadapa district and paid his tributes.
Speaking with the media, Bhatti said, “YSR was a visionary leader and everyone should emulate him. He spent his life in the service of the party” and added “I was fortunate to have worked with YSR as a chief whip.”
