VIJAYAWADA: Lok Sabha MP from Guntur Jayadev Galla is likely to quit active politics and not contest in the ensuing 2024 elections. The reason, according to sources, is that he wants to avoid unnecessary political interference in his business affairs.
The chairman, managing director and CEO of Amara Raja Batteries, Jayadev embarked on his political journey following the footsteps of his mother and former minister Galla Aruna Kumari and his maternal grandfather Paturi Rajagopal Naidu.
It was only after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh that the 57-year-old joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and contested successfully as an MP from Guntur twice. Until then, he used to assist his mother, who was serving as a minister in the Congress government from 2004 to 2014, during her election campaigns. Aurna, too, joined the TDP after the State bifurcation.
The businessman-politician gained popularity with his speeches in the Lok Sabha on various subjects. He was also actively associated with the agitation of the farmers of Amaravati and had marched with them to besiege the Legislative Assembly in January 2020 in opposition to the government’s decision to have three capitals.
Jayadev’s company Amara Raja Batteries has been entwined in a legal battle after the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) issued closure notices for two of its plants—Karakambadi-Tirupati, and Nunegundlapall in the erstwhile Chittoor districts in 2021, alleging violation of environmental norms. However, the High Court issued a stay on the closure notices and later even extended it by eight weeks in December last year.
Galla’s firm set up a unit in Telangana
While the legal battle is still underway, the management of the automotive battery maker withdrew their expansion plans in Andhra Pradesh.
In May this year, the company launched a gigafactory in the neighbouring Telugu State of Telangana to manufacture lithium-ion batteries, with a planned investment of `9,500 crore over the next 10 years.
Though Jayadev was attending Lok Sabha sessions as an MP, his participation in political activities decreased.
The MP even did not visit the Guntur constituency for months together, indicating that he might pull out of active politics.
In this background, sources told TNIE that the TDP leader has taken a decision to quit politics and focus entirely on his business.
Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s recent remarks that the ruling YSRC’s vendetta was forcing the Galla family to quit politics, only added substance to the speculation.