BRS MLA Prakash Goud joins Congress
Hyderabad, Jul 12: BRS MLA Prakash Goud joined the Congress in Telangana on Friday, taking the total number of opposition legislators switching over to the ruling party to eight.
Goud, elected from Rajendranagar here, was welcomed into the Congress fold by Chief Minister and PCC president A Revanth Reddy.
Speculation is rife that more BRS MLAs would join the ruling party in the days to come.
BRS had won 39 of the total 119 Assembly constituencies in the elections held last year, while Congress came to power winning 64 seats.
However, BRS MLA from Secunderabad Cantonment, G Lasya Nanditha, died in a road accident earlier this year. Congress won the recently held by-poll for the above segment. This led to an increase in its strength to 65.
With the addition of eight BRS MLAs who crossed over to Congress, its strength rose to 73.
Six BRS MLCs also joined the ruling Congress recently. With the fresh defections, Congress' strength goes up to 10 in the 40-member Legislative Council.
Meanwhile, MLA Danam Nagender, who was the first BRS MLA to switch sides to Congress, claimed on Friday that the BRS would be left with only a few MLAs soon.
On BRS seeking his disqualification under the anti-defection law, Nagender said the party has the right to do so. However, BRS would lose strength soon, he claimed.
BRS Working President K T Rama Rao had earlier attacked Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over the defection of MLAs and asked him if this is the way the latter is going to safeguard the Constitution.
#Hyderabad--
— NewsMeter (@NewsMeter_In) July 12, 2024
Rajendranagar @BRSparty MLA Prakash Goud has joined @INCTelangana at the Jubilee Hills residence of Chief Minister @revanth_anumula.@PrakashGoudMLA is the eighth legislator to join the #Congress from the #BRS. pic.twitter.com/yk8MjQWzEW
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
