Rebel BRS MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao joined the Congress Party on Thursday (September 28), accompanied by his son Rohith Rao, in a ceremony attended by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Telangana unit chief Anumula Revanth Reddy. Along with them, former BRS MLA Vemula Veeresham, who represented the Nakrekal Assembly constituency, crossed party lines to join the grand old party, according to news agency ANI.
Rao, who is the MLA from Malkajgiri Assembly constituency, announced his decision to join the Congress on Monday, saying he would travel to New Delhi to "complete the formality in the presence of central leaders," news agency IANS reported.
According to the report, the rebel MLA told reporters at his residence here after meeting with a top Congress delegation that included former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha that he will join the party before Wednesday.
"The Congress party leaders called me in the morning to invite me to join the party. I gladly welcomed them," he was quoted by IANS as saying.
The delegation, however, made no promise to issue a ticket to Hanumantha Rao's son to run in the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections, according to the report.
Hanumantha Rao recently submitted his resignation letter to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, alleging that the BRS lacked democracy and transparency.
He also stated that the party's name was changed from Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi unilaterally.
Hanumantha Rao also claimed that the BRS had become a pawn in the hands of a few power-hungry individuals.
According to the IANS report, he left the BRS after the top leadership refused to issue a ticket to his son for the elections.