A large number of leaders from K. Chandrashekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) joined the Congress after meeting Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Monday afternoon, providing a fillip to the grand old party’s electoral prospects in the poll-bound Telangana.

The leaders who joined the Congress included former minister and five-time MLA Jupally Krishna Rao, former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and six-time MLA Gurnath Reddy. Even the BJP was negotiating with them but they preferred the Congress, indicating which party was perceived as the main challenger to chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao who is facing strong anti-incumbency this time.

These leaders were accompanied by several influential district-level leaders. Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy and other senior leaders had flown to Delhi to be present at the joining ceremony at the Congress headquarters in Delhi. Apart from Kharge and Rahul, K.C. Venugopal, general secretary in charge of organisation, and Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre were also present.

Srinivas Reddy and Krishna Rao have considerable influence in over 20 Assembly constituencies in the erstwhile Khammam and Mahbubnagar districts. There was much speculation about their future plan after they quit the BRS as the Congress and the BJP vied for the big catch to bolster their political narratives. Such exits barely months before the Assembly election have given credence to the perception of discontent against the incumbent government.

The Congress expects more leaders from the BRS and the BJP to join them. The party’s assessment is that the BJP’s popularity is on the wane in Telangana because the Congress has managed to deepen the impression of a tacit understanding of the central government with the KCR’s party. Chandrashekhar Rao is not part of the grand Opposition unity led by the Congress and that has created suspicions about its axis with the BJP.

All other parties which have refused to join the Opposition unity efforts — TDP, YSR Congress, BJD, BSP and AIADMK — are viewed with suspicion about their opposition to the BJP.

Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha was once summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi liquor scam but the inaction thereafter triggered rumours of a clandestine understanding. If this perception gathers ground, the anti-incumbency benefits will gradually shift towards the Congress.

The chief minister, who engineered massive defections from the Congress in the past, is said to be trying to lure some important leaders to blunt the exodus narrative. There are some senior leaders in the Congress who are unhappy with state chief Revanth Reddy but they are unlikely to join the BRS at a time when the party is on a downhill journey. The Congress graph is set to rise further with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra planning a major political blitzkrieg in the coming months.

Karnataka leaders Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar are also making forays in the neighbouring Telangana.

The Congress is trying to create a perception of the BJP’s complete ouster from the south after their Karnataka loss and rebuilding the party in Telangana may now be a little more difficult for the BJP now.