Jolt to BJP in Telangana as Swamy Goud, Sravan return to TRS ahead of Munugode bypoll

They join TRS in the presence of TRS working president KTR, say fed up with BJP style of politics

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a severe jolt ahead of the byelection to Munugode Assembly Constituency on Friday, with two of its leaders, former Chairman of the Legislative Council K. Swamy Goud and Dasoju Sravan, quitting the party and returning to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as a boost to the latter.

Mr. Swamy Goud joined the BJP in November 2020 after he was associated with TRS since 2012 and also holding the position as the Chairman of the Legislative Council during 2014-19. Similarly, Mr. Sravan quit the TRS during the 2014 elections and joined the Congress and held the position of national official spokesperson. He, however, quit the Congress and joined the BJP in August this year.

Speaking at the rejoining event in the presence of TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao and Minister T. Srinivas Goud at Manneguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Friday, Mr. Swamy Goud said his return to TRS was not just a homecoming but an auspicious one as it was on the same day, October 21, in 2009 the eventual phase of the movement for statehood to Telangana had taken off.

He stated that he was returning home as the objective of finding a solution to disputes with Andhra Pradesh did not make any headway in the BJP.

Mr. Sravan, on his return to TRS after a gap of eight years and seven months, said it was due to some misgivings he had quit TRS in the past but vowed to remain with TRS and work for the party for remaining part of his public life. The two leaders expressed hope that Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) as which TRS was going to make over soon would bring a change in polity, welfare and development of people by tapping huge untapped resources in the country.

In his letter resigning from the primary membership of the BJP, Mr. Swamy Goud wrote to State president Bandi Sanjay that he had joined the party with a lot of hopes, but was quitting it as only the ultra rich and contractors had growing presence in the party at the cost of those working for the party sincerely.

Similarly, in his letter to Mr. Sanjay, Mr. Sravan faulted the BJP leadership for fielding a candidate who had only money power, neglecting the assurance of practising alternative politics by encouraging backward and downtrodden classes. He alleged that BJP was planning to win Munugode purely on the strength of its money power.