BJP leader Vijaya Shanthi, who resigned from the party on Wednesday, joined the Congress in the presence of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday.
She met him along with senior Congress leaders Manikrao Thakare, N.S. Bose Raju, Bhatti Vikramarka, D. Sridhar Babu and others and expressed her desire to join the party. She was offered the party scarf and invited. Sources said Ms. Vijaya Shanthi will campaign for the party in selected constituencies. She is expecting the Medak Parliament seat, which she represented in 2009.
Former MP and Dalit leader Manda Jaggannatham also joined the Congress. Mr. Jagannatham, who was a Congress MP in 2009 played a major role in the Telangana movement inside Parliament. He joined the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and lost in 2014. He has been staying away from the BRS for some time.
P. Vinay Kumar, son of former Union Minister Shiv Shankar has decided to return to Congress from which he resigned last year to float his own party.
Teegala to join Congress!
Sources said former MLA Teegala Krishna Reddy is also likely to join the Congress soon. There were rumours of him joining the party a few months ago. Mr. Reddy represented Maheshwaram constituency in 2014 and lost to Congress candidate Sabita Indra Reddy in 2018 elections. However, Ms. Sabitha defected to the BRS and was made the Minister for Education.
