Telangana: Former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar joins BRS

Siddipet (Telangana): Former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar, who resigned as Bahujan Samaj Party's Telangana unit president earlier, joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Monday.

The former IPS officer formally joined the BRS in the presence of the party President and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at the latter's farmhouse at Erravelli in Siddipet district.

About 35 state-level leaders of the BSP and 50 district-level leaders joined the BRS along with Praveen Kumar.

Earlier in the day, Telangana Governor and Lt Governor of Puducherry, Tamilisai Soundararajan resigned from her post.

There is speculation that she may contest the Lok Sabha poll from South Chennai or a constituency in South Tamil Nadu.

On her resignation as Telangana Governor, Tamilisai Soundararajan said, "I am happy that I am returning for the service of the people. I thank each and every one of Telangana. I am ever the sister of Telangana. I thank them for the love and affection."

"Every future plan, I will tell you," added Soundararajan.

There are 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana. The 17 constituencies in Telangana are Adilabad, Bhuvanagiri, Chevella, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahabubabad, Mahabubnagar, Malkajgiri, Medak, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Peddapalle, Secunderabad, Warangal and Zahirabad.

The Telangana Lok Sabha Election 2024 is scheduled to be held in a single phase on May 13, 2024. The Election Commission of India announced this date, with the results set to be declared on June 4, 2024.

This electoral event holds significant importance as it follows closely on the heels of the assembly polls held in December 2023, where the K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS faced a setback, losing the state to Congress.

Since the formation of Telangana in 2013, the BRS has been the dominant political force in the state.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BRS won nine of 17 seats, while the BJP and Congress bagged four and three seats, respectively.