HYDERABAD: There are no permanent friends or foes in politics. The latest example to prove that age-old adage holds true even today is TDP’s Nama Nageswara Rao’s impending switching of loyalty from the yellow party to the pink party. Barely three months ago Nama Nageswara Rao fought bitterly with Puvvada Ajay Kumar of the ruling TRS party for Khammam Assembly seat.
Nama lost to Puvvada with just five per cent votes. With the Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the ruling TRS is searching for a suitable candidate and Nama Nageswara Rao too wanted to consolidate his political position in Khammam district.
With no hopes of TDP’s revival in the district, Nageswara Rao recently called on TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao at the latter’s farmhouse. He also resigned from the party and gave up the membership of the TDP politburo.
According to sources, all the TRS leaders from Khammam district, including Puvvada Ajay Kumar, are not against the entry of Nama into the TRS. In the April 11 Lok Sabha polls, the TRS is likely to field Nama Nageswara Rao from Khammam constituency.
With a considerable number of Kamma caste votes in the segment and also with support from recently joined Congress MLAs, the TRS is trying to win the Khammam seat.
Asked whether he was joining TRS and contesting from Khammam, Nageswara Rao told Express, “Official announcement will be made on March 21. Wait till then”.Nageswara Rao contested on TDP ticket from Khammam Assembly as People’s Front candidate. There was an intense fight between the TRS and the TDP-Congress alliance in Assembly elections in Khammam district.
However, Puvvada and Nama — bitter rivals from the last Assembly polls — will now be joining hands to take on the yet-t0-be named Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.
TRS to announce candidates tomorrow
The TRS will announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, the day of Holi festival. An announcement to this effect was by TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao in Nizamabad on Wednesday. As the last date for filing of nominations is March 25 and considering the holidays in between, the TRS candidates will be left with only two days — March 22 and 25 — to file their nomination papers. The TRS has so far announced the candidature of just one candidate — sitting MP B Vinod Kumar for Karimnagar seat.