Rahul Gandhi Rules Out Alliance With BRS In Telangana

The Congress called the meeting of its leaders from Telangana on Tuesday to discuss the strategy for the state, which will go to polls later this year.

The Congress Party will not have any kind of alliance with the Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in Telangana, said senior leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday during a meeting with Telangana party leaders over the upcoming Assembly polls. The meeting was chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by prominent leaders such as K.C. Venugopal, Manikrao Thakare, A. Revanth Reddy, and Renuka Chowdhury.

The Congress called the meeting of its leaders from Telangana on Tuesday to discuss the strategy for the state, which will go to polls later this year. 

During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi was very vocal and said that the party would not have any kind of alliance with the BRS in the state. He also said how one can imagine that BRS can be part of the alliance as it is team B of the BJP. Rahul Gandhi said that Congress would approach the assembly polls by highlighting the collaboration between the BRS and BJP in the state. He further said that leaders should stick to the campaign strategy and talk about the failures of the BRS regime.

On Tuesday, Kharge said that the people of Telangana are yearning for change and looking towards the Congress.

"People of Telangana are yearning for change. They are looking towards the Congress party. Congress party is ready to take on any challenge. Together, we will usher a brighter future for Telangana, based on shared democratic values and all-around social welfare," Kharge said in a tweet after the meeting.

The meeting came a day after several BRS leaders joined the Congress, including former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao.

Earlier, Venugopal said in a tweet, "Telangana is ready to defeat KCR's feudal govt and crush the unholy alliance between BRS and BJP." "Telangana is just the beginning. In every village, in every town, the people are looking at the Congress with hope. All over the country, leaders with their ear to the ground are picking up this huge undercurrent in favour of the Congress and are eager to join," he said.

Earlier this year, Congress did not participate in the round table meeting organised by BRS leader K Kavitha in the national capital over the Women's Reservation Bill. The BRS has not attended many meetings of the Union government in the last one and half years, but it participated in the all-party meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah over Manipur on June 24.