KTR renews defected MLAs challenge to CM Revanth Reddy after panchayat polls

Hyderabad: BRS working president K T Rama Rao renewed his defected MLAs challenge to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and dared him to make the 10 legislators who switched sides resign and face fresh elections.

While speaking in Rajanna Sircilla on Thursday, KTR said the Chief Minister first claimed a 66% victory in the panchayat elections. However, within minutes, he changed his stand and described the results as local and unrelated to the government. Therefore, KTR said Revanth Reddy should accept the defected MLAs challenge if he truly trusted public support.

Meanwhile, KTR alleged that the defected MLAs were clinging to positions without clarity about their political identity. In particular, he named Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Kadiyam Srihari and accused them of making contradictory claims before the Speaker. As a result, he said their conduct showed desperation for posts rather than commitment to principles.

Moreover, the BRS leader alleged that the Chief Minister pressured constitutional authorities in defection cases. According to him, such interference weakened democratic norms and damaged public trust in institutions.

Defected MLAs challenge reiterated at Sircilla programme

Reiterating the defected MLAs challenge, KTR said the Congress government felt rattled by the panchayat results. For instance, he said BRS secured about 33% of nearly 12,000 sarpanch posts despite K Chandrashekar Rao not campaigning. Consequently, he added that this outcome forced the government to step back from holding mandal and zilla parishad elections.

At the same time, KTR thanked party workers and voters in Sircilla constituency for winning 80 of the 117 sarpanch posts. He said the results showed continued faith in KCR’s leadership. Additionally, he said district tours and alleged intimidation by ministers failed to influence voters.

Later, KTR attended a party programme to felicitate newly elected sarpanches and deputy sarpanches. During the event, he urged cadres to set aside minor disputes from the panchayat polls and work together for upcoming MPTC and ZPTC elections. Further, he assured workers not to fear threats and announced fresh membership drives next year.

Finally, KTR accused the Congress of betraying farmers, women and backward classes. Therefore, he said voters responded by backing BRS in the panchayat elections. He also alleged that the government now wanted to delay parishad polls to avoid another test.