Cong getting damaged in all states, Kiran Reddy after joining BJP

Former Andhra chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Reddy was the last chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh before Telangana was carved out from it. His joining ceremony was held at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi where party leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi inducted him into the party. Reddy  had resigned from the Congress once before in 2014, after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, and formed his party, Jai Samaikyandhra. However, he failed to make an electoral impact in the 2014 polls. He later rejoined the Congress in 2018 but remained inactive in politics for a long time.

Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, the four-time MLA said he had never imagined that he had to leave Congress, and blamed his move on “wrong decisions” by the party leadership. “What has happened is, state after state, due to bad decisions of Congress high command, the party is getting damaged in all states. They don't interact with people. They don't take the opinion of the leaders. It is not the story of one state. It is a story throughout the country,” he said. Reddy's decision to join the BJP comes ahead of the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh next year, where the ruling YSR Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party are locked in a bitter contest. The move could potentially tip the scales in favour of the BJP, which is hoping to make inroads in the state.