Corporators exit a blow to BRS ahead of local polls

KARIMNAGAR: The recent departure of as many as 13 Karimnagar corporators has dealt a major blow to the pink party ahead of the local body elections.

The strength of the BRS in the 60-strong Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar (MCK) has now dropped to 30, down from 43 seats it won in the 2020 elections. Of the 13 who left the party, 11 joined the ruling Congress at different times and two changed their loyalty to the BJP recently in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

The Congress, which failed to open its account in the 2020 polls, now has 11 corporators. Interestingly, the strength of the BJP, which initially had 13 corporators, was reduced to 11 when two of them shifted to the BRS. Now, its tally has once again gone up to 13. The AIMIM has six corporators.

While these recent developments boosted the Congress workers and to some extent their counterparts in the BJP, they left the BRS cadre and leaders worried. The BRS leaders are now faced with the difficult task of preventing the remaining corporators from leaving the party. If they fail to do so, the party will not only lose its grip it maintained over the MCK for the last two terms but it may also suffer irreparable damage in the elections.