Keshava Rao, BRS heavyweight and KCR’s eyes and ears in New Delhi, set to join Congress

Keshava Rao, BRS heavyweight and KCR’s eyes and ears in New Delhi, set to join Congress

Senior Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader Kancherla Keshava Rao is set to quit the party and join the Congress, with his daughter G Vijayalakshmi, the Hyderabad mayor, likely to follow.

Rao, who was BRS’s secretary general, on Friday met Chief Minister and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy. Rao was accompanied by Deepa Das Munshi, the AICC in-charge for Telangana, and other TPCC leaders.

The 84-year-old, a former Congress leader who joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in 2013 ahead of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana state, is close to BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao. He was KCR’s troubleshooter and advisor and remained a close confidant until the party lost power last December.

VIDEO | BRS MP Keshava Rao meets Telangana CM Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) at his residence in #Hyderabad.

(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/acf4CjpDVs

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 29, 2024

Mostly staying in the background, Rao, also known as KK in BRS circles, helped KCR formulate both party strategy and government policy, and was his eyes and ears in New Delhi.

Rao is learnt to have met KCR early this week and conveyed his decision to resign and join the Congress.

Rao, who was with the Congress at the time, was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2006. Prior to that, he was appointed as the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president in 2005. He was also a minister in three Congress governments, and was made a member of the Congress Working Committee in 2009. He also worked as the in-charge of states like Assam, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar.

In 2014, although he belongs to Telangana, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh due to the allotment system. In 2020 he was re-elected from Telangana.

After KCR revived the Telangana movement, Rao became a strong supporter of KCR and a separate state. In May 2013, he quit the Congress in anger, accusing the UPA government of dragging its feet on creation of a Telangana state.

He has not officially announced his resignation so far but, sources said, he has informed KCR and other senior leaders about his planned exit.

His son Viplav Kumar, however, may not join his father. He has in the past said he is a staunch supporter of KCR and the BRS, and will not leave the party.

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