Over the past decade, BRS has wielded significant influence to weaken the Congress party in Telangana. In 2014, despite holding a clear majority of 63 seats in the assembly, BRS managed to lure 7 out of Congress's 21 MLAs to their side. The situation escalated in 2018 when BRS further consolidated power with 88 seats and orchestrated the merger of the Congress legislative party into BRS, further diminishing Congress's presence.
aToday, represented by KTR, BRS has criticized what they perceive as hypocrisy and political opportunism from Congress. KTR specifically called out Revanth Reddy and Rahul Gandhi for allegedly poaching BRS MLAs and orchestrating these defections.
KTR highlighted the constitutional right to secure 2-3 MLAs from other parties but criticized Congress for crossing ethical boundaries by reportedly poaching 7 BRS MLAs and continuing to seek more.
The irony of the situation hasn't been lost on observers: BRS, which successfully poached Congress MLAs in 2014 and 2018, is now facing defections back to Congress after losing power, prompting amusement and criticism.
A political observer noted that Revanth Reddy's actions mirror tactics previously employed by KCR's BRS while in power, suggesting that BRS is now experiencing its own strategy in reverse. The observer argued that since KTR and KCR actively pursued Congress MLAs during their tenure, they lack moral authority to condemn Congress's current actions.
Despite the criticisms, KTR remains resolute in his stance against defections, announcing plans to take legal action in the Supreme Court to disqualify the defecting MLAs.