Telangana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy said on Wednesday that the state is witnessing re-alignment of anti-KCR forces ahead of the Assembly elections.

Revanth Reddy said as part of the process, he is inviting several leaders to join the Congress. The state Congress chief was speaking to reporters after inviting former minister Jupally Krishna Rao and ex-MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy to join the party.

Both Krishna Rao and Srinivasa Reddy were recently suspended from the ruling Bhaarat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for anti-party activities.

Revanth Reddy along with party MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and other senior leaders met Krishna Rao and Srinivasa Reddy on Wednesday and invited them to join the party.

While Srinivasa Reddy told reporters that he will announce his decision in 3-4 days, Krishna Rao agreed with the need to unite anti-KCR forces to realise the dreams of Telangana’s martyrs.

According to Congress sources, both the leaders will meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on June 25. The next day they will announce their decision to join the Congress at a press conference.

Two MLCs, some former MLAs and a couple of Zilla Parishad chairpersons are also likely to join the Congress.

All the leaders will formally join the Congress at a public meeting at Khammam on July 2 which will be addressed by Rahul Gandhi, sources said.

Revanth Reddy said that a re-alignment of anti-KCR forces will be done to bring Congress to power so that justice can be done to Dalits, tribals, minorities and weaker sections of the society.

He noted that many leaders are raising their voice against Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and they will all be brought together so that they play their role in bringing ‘Indiramma Rajyam’ in the state.

The state Congress chief exuded confidence that the Congress will win 15 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, and thus play a key role in strengthening the party at the Centre.

Krishna Rao said that the BRS has lost the moral right to rule Telangana, adding that BRS and KCR have betrayed Telangana’s martyrs by not fulfilling their dreams. He also alleged that all the schemes of the BRS government are aimed at fooling the people and that it is neck deep in corruption.

Stating that there are dissidents in the BJP and other parties, he underlined the need to unite them to become a strong force.

Srinivasa Reddy said that KCR’s rule is against the spirit of self-rule, adding that for the last four months, he along with krishna Rao visited various parts of the state and met people from various sections of the society.

“After consultation with all, we have almost taken a decision in tune with the people’s aspirations and we will announce the same shortly,” he said.

Srinivas Reddy, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Khammam on YSR Congress Party ticket in 2014, later switched loyalties to BRS. He was unhappy after KCR denied him a party ticket for both 2018 Assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Krishna Rao had resigned from the Congress to join the BRS in 2011. He was elected from the Kollapur constituency in Mahabubnagar district in 2014 on a BRS ticket. He felt sidelined in the BRS after MLA Harshvardhan Reddy, who had defeated him in 2018, switched his loyalties from Congress to BRS after the Assembly polls.

Telangana Congress president A. Revanth Reddy was arrested by the police here on Monday as he was heading for a planned protest over the problems faced by sarpanches and lack of funds for panchayats.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president, who was under house arrest since morning, tried to leave but was stopped by the police.

He questioned the action by the police officers and had an argument with them.

As Revanth Reddy tried to proceed towards Indira Park, he was arrested and shifted to the Bolarum police station. Congress workers staged a protest at the police station demanding his immediate release.

Reddy slammed the action of the state government in denying permission for the dharna under the aegis of Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan.

He said the government was indifferent to suicides by sarpanches.

TPCC vice-president Mallu Ravi, Jeevan Reddy and other leaders were either placed under house arrest or were arrested while proceeding to Hyderabad.

Tension also prevailed at Gandhi Bhavan, the TPCC headquarters, as Congress leaders were stopped by the police by locking the gates. Some leaders and workers tried to leave the premises by climbing the gate.

Police used force to push them inside.

Meanwhile, Revanth Reddy has called for statewide protests against what he calls undemocratic attitude of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. He asked the party cadres to organise protests in district and mandal headquarters.

“The police storming into our houses like KCR’s private army and lifting is a proof of the rowdy state in Telangana which we have fought for with a lot of aspirations,” said the TPCC chief.

Police personnel were deployed outside his residence in Jubilee Hills since morning to prevent him from leaving for Indira Park for leading the dharna as police had denied permission for the same.

Revanth Reddy took to Twitter to slam Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and said: “CM doesn’t come out of Pragati Bhavan nor common man has access to it. If we question,we face cases & house arrests. Police surrounded my house & all important leaders to prevent from a dharna against the plight of Sarpanchs in the state. Democracy, where are you!?”

The Congress has already announced that it would go ahead with the dharna despite denial of permission by the police.

Earlier, Mallu Ravi decried the decision of police not to give permission for the dharna. He said this was shocking as the party had not sought permission for rasta roko or laying siege to the Assembly.

“We wanted to hold a peaceful dharna at a designated place,” he said and pointed out that Dharna Chowk at Indira Park was established for the very purpose of democratic protests by people.

The Congress leader alleged that the state government is denying funds to panchayats and this is affecting the development of villages. He had appealed to sarpanches across the state to converge at the dharna site to express their resentment against the government’s callous attitude in providing funds meant for villages.

The Congress party said it had been protesting to highlight the problems in 12,750 panchayats of Telangana and the unfair treatment to elected sarpanches.

Sarpanches, who mostly owe allegiance to ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), have been expressing concern over not receiving government funds for a year.

Dozens of them have come forward to submit their resignations.