BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) has thrown down the gauntlet at Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy, urging him to prove the strength of defected MLAs by making them resign and contest fresh by-polls. Speaking at a massive public meeting in Gadwal on Saturday, KTR said that the condition of such legislators was “pitiable” as they might assume themselves to be safe for now, but the Supreme Court was closely monitoring the issue of defections. He warned that irrespective of Congress’s strategies, by-elections were inevitable, and when they came, people would deliver a strong lesson to the ruling party.

Targeting Gadwal MLA Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy, who won on a BRS ticket but later switched sides to Congress, KTR accused him of double-speak. “To the people, he claims he joined Congress for the development of Gadwal. But to the Speaker, he insists he is still in BRS. If that is the case, then why is he absent from this very meeting?” KTR questioned. He also cornered the Congress government for its alleged failures, asking whether even a single rupee had reached Gadwal constituency in the last 22 months or if any of the promised welfare schemes were implemented. According to him, Krishnamohan’s defection was not for the people’s progress but for his personal gain.

KTR exuded confidence that BRS would still dominate in Gadwal, predicting victory in at least 30 out of the 37 wards in the upcoming municipal elections. He asserted that just because one MLA abandoned the party, Congress should not assume it had grown stronger in the district. “Both Congress and Krishnamohan have failed the people of Gadwal,” he declared, adding that the public was aware of the truth and would reject opportunistic politics at the ballot box. The fiery speech marked yet another chapter in the escalating war of words between the BRS and the ruling Congress in Telangana.