Patancheru MLA Mahipal Reddy joins Congress

Hyderabad: The Patancheru MLA G Mahipal Reddy formally joined the Congress party on Monday. He was welcomed into the party fold by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at an event held at CM’s residence in Jubilee Hills.

Within a span of a week, Mahipal Reddy is the third MLA to switch his loyalties from BRS to Congress. Earlier, Rajendranagar MLA T Prakash Goud and Serilingampally MLA  Arekapudi Gandhi joined the Congress. With this, the number of legislators joining the ruling party touches 10.

Mahipal Reddy was supposed to join the Congress earlier this month, but the resistance from local Congress leaders has delayed the process. On Saturday, deliberations also continued at the residence of former Minister and Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender for the smooth transition. Later in the same evening the Patancheru MLA also visited the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s residence to formally join, but could only materialise on Monday.

To send a clear message to party workers in Patancheru, Ministers Damodar Rajanarsimha, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, former MLA and PCC working president T Jagga Reddy and others accompanied him at the CM’s residence. Former PCC vice president who had defected to BRS prior to Assembly polls also returned back to the Congress fold. He was welcomed by Revanth Reddy along with scores of other leaders.