From Congress to BJP and Back: The Political Journey Behind Telangana’s Costliest Election

A former Telangana MLA, Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, who had previously left the Congress to join the BJP last year, is now set to make a surprising return to the Congress just weeks before the Assembly polls. Reddy has officially resigned from the BJP and has stated that his primary goal is to defeat the incumbent government led by K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in Telangana. He expressed the belief that the “people’s mood is in favor of the Congress.”

Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy made headlines in August of the previous year when he left the Congress and switched his allegiance to the BJP. His resignation as a legislator led to a vacant seat in the Munugode Assembly, which was subsequently contested in a bypoll. In that election, Reddy lost to Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy from KCR’s party by a margin of approximately 10,000 votes.

The Munugode by-election held in November is noteworthy for being one of the most expensive polls in the country’s history due to substantial spending by the parties to woo voters. During the run-up to the election, election officials seized cash amounting to ₹8 crore and 5,000 liters of liquor. Moreover, it gained significant attention as the “most-watched” election in the country, with 48 CCTV cameras monitoring the polling process, which was webcast across 298 police stations.

In announcing his departure from the BJP, Mr. Reddy stated, “My aim is to trounce the KCR government. The people’s mood is in favor of Congress, so I am abiding by people’s will.”

It’s worth noting that Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy’s brother, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, is a Congress Member of Parliament, representing Bhuvanagiri in the Indian Parliament.

The Congress party is actively campaigning to unseat the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government led by KCR in Telangana. Prominent leaders such as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have attended election meetings in the state and accused KCR of promoting his family members while neglecting the state’s issues.

In response to these attacks on dynasty politics, KCR’s minister son KT Rama Rao and MLC daughter K Kavitha have criticized the Gandhi siblings, emphasizing the irony of great-grandchildren of Jawaharlal Nehru and grandchildren of Indira Gandhi targeting them over family politics. This reflects the ongoing political dynamics and rivalries in the state of Telangana.