Hyderabad: The BRS party has encountered another setback as its MLAs continue defecting to the ruling Congress party. Recently, Chevella MLA Kale Yadaiah publicly displayed his alignment by wearing a Congress scarf and formally joined the Congress in Delhi, in the presence of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. This follows the earlier moves of Jagtial MLA Sanjay Kumar and former Telangana Speaker Banswada MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to switch sides. With these defections, a total of six BRS MLAs have now joined the Congress.
Kale Yadaiah, who has now won from Chevella for the third consecutive term, originally secured victory on a Congress ticket in 2014 before later affiliating with the BRS. He continued his winning streak in the 2018 and 2023 assembly elections under the BRS banner, narrowly defeating Congress candidate Bhim Bharat by a margin of 268 votes in the most recent election.