Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's party on Tuesday amid reports that the Bharat Raksha Samithi is leaning towards the BJP.
Addressing BJP workers in Madhya Pradesh ahead of state elections, PM Modi said: "If you want the welfare of the Karunanidhi family, then vote for DMK. If you want the welfare of K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter, then vote for BRS. But if you people want the welfare of your sons and daughters and grandchildren, then vote for BJP".
The change in stance has apparently displeased a section of leaders of the party, many of whom, sources said, are making a beeline for the Congress. Thirty-five key leaders of the BRS are set to join the Congress ahead of the state elections due later this year.
The group, led by former BRS leader Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and the state's former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, have already met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.
Last week, the BRS ended its two-year boycott of Central meetings and attended the all-party meet on the Manipur situation. The diluting of the stance that it held for years, added to speculation of a possible understanding between the BJP and the BRS.
Earlier this month, the Chief Minister, once one of the bitterest critics of the Prime Minister, even described him a "good friend" at a party event.
Over the weekend, as the opposition held its strategy meet in Patna, Mr Rao's son, KT Rama Rao, a minister of the state, went to Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
On Sunday, KT Rama Rao took on the opposition over its unity move.
"The fight (against the BJP) should be on principal issues before the country. Unfortunately, we are losing the plot there. We seem to be obsessed and worried about dislodging someone or putting somebody there, and that should not be the agenda. The agenda should be how the basic priorities of the country have to be met," he was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
K Kavitha was named in two chargesheets in the excise case, but her name has been dropped from the third chargesheet filed in April.