The Telangana Assembly election results dealt an unprecedented blow to K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Bharat Rashtra Samithi on Sunday, 3 December. The Congress, which the party had discarded as a distant foe until recently, sprang a surprise to bag 65 seats in the 119-seat Assembly, reducing BRS' tally to 39.
But the signs of a Congress resurgence had been there for a while. One of the first signs was the resignation of several BRS MLAs who joined the Congress party.
Most of these leaders were upset that KCR refused to give them BRS tickets – and the Congress, incidentally, gave a good chunk of its tickets to them.
How did some of these leaders fare in the elections?
Mynampally Hanumanth Rao - Malkajgiri
Mynampally Hanumanth Rao resigned from the BRS as the party refused to give a ticket to his son, Mynampally Rohith. Hanumanth Rao, who was a sitting MLA, had fared in the first list of candidates released by the BRS. The Congress, on his joining, promised tickets for him and his son, from Malkajgiri and Medak constituencies, respectively.
"We are making an exception for the Mynampally family. We have promised them two tickets and they will be joining the party formally soon," TPCC chief Revanth Reddy had said.
However, the leader was defeated by BRS' Marri Rajasekhar Reddy by a margin of 49,530 votes on Sunday.
Mynampally Rohith - Medak
Mynampally Rohith, who secured the Medak ticket, on his father's insistence, emerged victorious in the elections. He defeated the BRS' Padma Devender Reddy by a margin of 10,157 votes.
Medak is the region where BRS bigwigs like K Chandrasekhar Rao, T Harish Rao, and KT Rama Rao contested from.
Jupally Krishna Rao - Kollapur
Jupally Krishna Rao, who hails from Mahabubnagar district, was known to have had a running feud with BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao.
He moved to the Congress recently and secured a ticket from the Kollapur constituency in Nagakurnool district. He defeated B Harshavardhan Reddy by a margin of 29,931 votes on Sunday.
Harshavardhan Reddy was one of the 12 MLAs from Congress who defected to the BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) in 2019, bringing down Congress' MLA tally from 18 to 6.
Vemula Veeresham - Nakrekal
Vemula Veeresham, who had contested in the 2018 Assembly elections on a BRS ticket, was defeated by Chirumarthy Lingaiah, who was then in the Congress party.
The tables turned this time as Veeresham switched to the Congress recently and defeated Lingaiah by a huge margin of 68,839 votes. Lingaiah was contesting on a BRS ticket.
Kumbham Anil Kumar Reddy - Bhongir
Bhongir leader Kumbham Anil Kumar returned to his parent party of Congres merely a few months after he had moved to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in July.
The Yadadri-Bhongir district congress committee president was upset that the BRS "neglected" him, prompting him to return and secure a Congress ticket in Bhongir.
He defeated BRS' Pailla Shekar Reddy by a margin of 26,201 votes.
Ponguletti Srinivas Reddy - Palair
Former Khammam MP Ponguletti Srinivas Reddy, who joined the BRS in 2018, was suspended from the party for 'anti-party activities' this year. He joined the Congress in July and secured a ticket from Palair.
A popular leader in Khammam, Srinivas Reddy helped strengthen the Congress party in the region. He defeated Kandala Upender Reddy of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi by a margin of 56,650 votes.
Upender Reddy, who won Palair on a Congress ticket in 2018, was one of the 12 MLAs who defected to the BRS in 2019.
Thummala Nageshwar Rao - Khammam
Thummala Nageshwar Rao, who had been in the Telugu Desam Party for years, before joining the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in 2014, was a minister in KCR's first cabinet.
Another leader who has a lot of influence in Khammam, he joined the Congress this year after the BRS denied him a ticket.
He defeated sitting MLA and Transport Minister in the KCR 2.0 Cabinet Puvvada Ajay Kumar by a good margin of 49,381 votes.
Kasireddy Narayan Reddy - Kalwakurthy
Kasireddy Narayan Reddy's resignation, according to reports, was sparked by the BRS preferring incumbent MLA Jaipal Yadav for the Kalwakurthy Assembly seat. In the 2018 Assembly polls, too, Narayan Reddy was supposedly sidelined – and he was hoping to get a party ticket this time.
He joined the Congress and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Thalloju Achari by a thin margin of 5,410 votes. The BRS' G Jaipal Yadav came in the third place.
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