BC Welfare and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar. File
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
BC Welfare and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar alleged that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has filed nominations for the Hyderabad local body MLC elections with an understanding with the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS).
Mr. Prabhakar, who is also the incharge Minister for the Hyderabad district, asked how the BJP, with just 27 votes, can enter the fray if the BRS has not secretly agreed to support the BJP. Out of the 112 votes for Hyderabad local bodies, the BJP has 27 votes, the BRS has 23, the Congress has 13 and the MIM has 49 votes.
The Minister said the Congress stayed out of the contest as it lacked the requisite strength. Then, how come the BJP entered the fray without the required strength? This only shows that the BRS, with 23 votes, will support the BJP candidate. The Congress can never support the BJP and BRS is their only alternative to seek votes. The MIM is also in the fray and its votes wouldn’t deviate.
Mr. Prabhakar asked the BJP if it wants to encourage cross voting as there was no required strength for it to win the election. He also said there were rumours of the BJP State president and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy maintaining close relations with the BRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
“Even the BJP MLA Raja Singh has also indicated the same criticising the State BJP unit not being serious. There is a debate on these lines among the people and the political circles further fuelling the rumours of BJP-BRS tie-up,” he said.
The Minister also claimed that in the recent undergraduate elections, the BRS had supported the BJP with a non-binding agreement without fielding a candidate, and now they are signing an MoU to provide internal support to the BJP.
Published – April 06, 2025 01:58 pm IST
