Ponguleti, Jupally secretive about choosing BJP or Congress

Hyderabad: The expelled BRS leaders Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Jupally Krishna Rao who were expected to join the BJP before the Karnataka Assembly elections have kept their options open and are yet to take a call. The suspense over their possible political move captures the imagination within political circles, while the leaders weigh both financial and political prospects as pressure builds.

Even though BJP badly needed these leaders, both the leaders, who were about to join the saffron party took a back step in the wake of the Congress sweeping recent Karnataka elections. However, both the ‘joining committees’ of Congress and BJP, led by former Ministers K Jana Reddy and Eatala Rajender remained in touch with the leaders for the past couple of months.

Former Khammam MP who will be witnessing an important public meeting of BJP of party leader Amit Shah within a week was averse to disclosing anything at this juncture. “It will take time as a decision is yet to be taken on this,” clarified Srinivas Reddy to NewsMeter.

Meanwhile, local leaders of erstwhile Mahbubnagar felt that Jupally may join the Congress, given the party’s strong presence in the Kollapur Assembly constituency and its winning chances. “The party has a good stranglehold when it comes to the constituency. Even the senior leaders representing the party locally also may win if fielded in Assembly elections. Both Jana and Revanth Reddy are in touch with him,” said a senior leader from the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.

Prior to the Karnataka elections, the BJP leadership was positive about their joining the party. Eatala has maintained that his responsibility was to talk to leaders who are positive about joining the party and each person makes his or her own assessment about the party they want to join, and considers their prospects. It was speculated that the leaders may join in the presence of Amit Shah during his visit then. However, the BJP leaders feel that there was no decision taken on whether the former BRS leaders, particularly Ponguleti, will join this time. “The party is in touch with the leaders, but there is no clarity yet. It’s all about politics understood by individual leaders,” said G Premender Reddy, state general secretary.

Political analysts believe that given the slender presence of the BJP in Khammam and Nagarkurnool, the party may try hard to rope in the two leaders. But despite their political compulsions, it is most likely they will join the Congress. But the state leadership’s delay in grabbing the opportunity may favour BJP, as both the leaders are weighing both political and financial prospects.

Both the leaders were suspended from BRS for their alleged ‘anti-party’ activities in the month of April. Earlier at an event in Kothagudem, both the leaders had made serious allegations of corruption against Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

Originally serving in different parties, the leaders had switched over to the BRS (TRS) in recent years. Srinivas Reddy who was elected as MP in 2014 from the YSR Congress ticket, later joined BRS. While Jupally, a former Congress leader, joined the pink party in 2011. This former MLA from Kollapur got elected on a TRS (now BRS) ticket in 2014.