BRS suffers major setback, six party MLCs join Congress in Telangana
Hyderabad (PTI): In a major setback to the opposition BRS in Telangana, six party MLCs joined the ruling Congress late on Thursday night in the presence of state Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi continues to suffer from desertions, with several leaders, including six MLAs, leaving the party after its defeat in the Assembly polls last year.
The six MLCs who switched over to the Congress are: Dande Vithal, Bhanu Prasad Rao, M S Prabhakar, Boggarapu Dayanand, Yegge Mallesham and Baswaraju Saraiah, Congress sources said.
AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana Deepa Dasmunsi and other leaders were present when the BRS MLCs joined the Congress at the residence of CM Revanth Reddy, who is also the PCC president.
According to the Telangana Legislative Council website, BRS has 25 members and Congress four.
There are four nominated MLCs, two members from AIMIM, one each from BJP, PRTU, and one independent, while two seats are vacant in the 40-member House.
The MLCs joined the Congress soon after Revanth Reddy returned from a two-day trip to the national capital Thursday night.
With the fresh defections, Congress' strength is set to go up to 10 in the Legislative Council.
Six BRS MLAs joined the Congress after the Assembly polls last year and speculation is rife that more would switch sides to 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 Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly segment. This led to an increase in its strength to 65.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
