Hyderabad: BJP leader and former MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy is contemplating a return to the Congress party ahead of next month’s Assembly elections.
Sources indicate that he may formally rejoin the Congress party in Delhi within the next few days, with Rahul Gandhi expected to be present for the occasion.
While Reddy acknowledges the pressure from people urging him to rejoin the Congress, he maintains that he has not made a final decision yet.
Reddy had left the Congress to join the BJP in August of last year. The MLA from Munugode also resigned from the Assembly, necessitating a by-election. He entered the bypoll as a BJP candidate but suffered a defeat. Raja Gopal Reddy, the brother of Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, expressed dissatisfaction with the BJP leadership and was one of the leaders who called for the removal of Bandi Sanjay as the party’s state president.
Former MP from Bhongir, Raj Gopal Reddy was recently appointed as a member of the national executive of the BJP. However, he has not been actively participating in the party’s programs for the past few months. Reportedly, he was keen on contesting the upcoming Assembly election from the LB Nagar constituency. His name was conspicuously missing from the BJP’s initial list of candidates announced on Sunday.
The industrialist-politician had joined the BJP amid much fanfare at a public meeting in Munugode in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in August.
However, after the defeat in the Munugode bypoll, Raja Gopal Reddy was not feeling comfortable in the BJP. With the Congress experiencing a resurgence in Telangana after its victory in Karnataka elections and several leaders from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and BJP switching loyalties to the Congress party in recent months, Raja Gopal Reddy also seems to be leaning towards a return to the Congress camp.
