Hyderabad: Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi joins Congress in presence of CM Revanth Reddy

Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi officially joined the Congress party on Saturday in the presence of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and AICC in-charge Deepadas Munshi.

Vijayalakshmi, who is the daughter of former BRS leader Keshav Rao, made her allegiance known by aligning with the Congress party. Her father, Keshav Rao, along with former Deputy CM of Telangana State, Kadiyam Srihari, announced their departure from the BRS party on Friday, confirming their intention to join the Congress party. Rao expressed his anticipation for rejoining the Congress, referring to it as a “homecoming.”

In an interview with ANI, Rao expressed his excitement about returning to the Congress fold, emphasizing his longstanding association with the party spanning 55 years. He highlighted the significant roles he had undertaken within the party, expressing gratitude for the opportunities he had received.

Following their exit from the BRS party, BRS Korutla MLA Dr. Sanjay criticized Rao and Srihari, labeling them as traitors for their decision to join forces with Revanth Reddy and desert the party.

Telangana is set to conduct voting across all 17 seats in a single phase on May 13. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BRS secured nine out of 17 seats, while the BJP and Congress managed to secure four and three seats, respectively.

The Lok Sabha elections for 543 seats across the country will be conducted in seven phases, commencing on April 19 and concluding on June 1. The results are slated to be declared on June 4, with approximately 97 crore eligible voters participating in the electoral process.