india

Updated: Sep 12, 2019 18:56 IST

In yet another setback to Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, which received serious drubbing in the recent assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, former minister C Adinarayana Reddy resigned from the party on Thursday after meeting BJP President Amit Shah in Delhi and announced plans to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in a public meeting at Kadapa soon.

Reddy, a three-time MLA from Jammalamadugu assembly constituency in Kadapa between 2004 and 2019, defected from the YSR Congress party to the TDP in 2016 and was inducted into the Chandrababu Naidu cabinet as animal husbandry minister in 2017.

He, however, lost the Lok Sabha polls from Kadapa--the bastion of YSR Congress party-- to Y S Avinash Reddy, cousin of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The former minister said though he had no complaints against the TDP and in fact, still holds party president N Chandrababu Naidu in high regard. “When I was asked to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kadapa, I sincerely followed the party direction despite knowing the outcome in advance.

He said, he was “compelled” to join the BJP to protect his “cadre”, who have been facing “harassment” from the YSRC in Kadapa.

Reddy’s resignation comes at a time when the TDP president is going all out to boost the sagging morale of the party cadre through an aggressive campaign against the ruling YSRC. But, despite his efforts, one leader after another has deserted the party in the last three months.

Four Rajya Sabha members – Y S Chowdary, C M Ramesh, T G Venkatesh and G Mohan Rao were the first to resign and merge with the BJP on June 20, less than a month after TDP’s twin losses in the Lok Sabha and the assembly polls.

Subsequently, there have been a series of resignations by the TDP leaders looking for greener pastures. While the former minister Ambika Krishna joined the BJP, Visakha Dairy chairman Adari Anand and all the directors of the company, Yalamanchili municipal chairperson Rama Kumari and senior leader from Narsipatnam Ch Sanyasi Patrudu, who is brother of former minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu, are joining the YSRC.

A TDP leader familiar with the developments in the party said former MLA from Ramachandrapuram constituency in East Godavari district, Thota Trimurthulu, is preparing to defect to the YSRC by this week-end. “He has called for a meeting of his followers on Friday, where he is expected to make an announcement in this regard,” he said.

Similarly, another former MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna from Vijayawada is also readying to defect from the TDP into the Jana Sena Party floated by actor Pawan Kalyan.

Political analyst Mallu Rajesh said it was common to witness defection of opposition MLAs and leaders into the ruling parties to protect their political and business interests.

“There would have been quite a few defections of TDP MLAs into the YSRC by now, had the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy not insisted on their resignations from their assembly seats before inducting them into the YSRC,” he said.

Ends//