HYDERABAD: Containing the damage to the party to some extent, Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu has managed to persuade two sulking leaders, Talasani Srinivas Yadav and RK Roja, to attend a meeting organised today to welcome the return of former ministers T Devender Goud and E Peddi Reddy into the party.
Yadav, who threatened to resign from the party protesting against the re-entry of Goud, called on Naidu this morning. He said that he would take a decision if Goud did not tender an apology to the party for his critical remarks while he was floating his own outfit. To build bridges with him, Goud personally called him up with a request to forget the past mistakes. Finally, an oscillating Yadav seemed to have been pacified by Naidu.
The party was also shaken by Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s statement that Telugu Mahila president RK Roja wanted to join the Congress. Naidu succeeded in persuading Roja also to attend today’s meeting.
Welcoming Goud and Reddy into the party, Yadav said, ``I am congratulating those leaders who joined the party today.’’ He wanted the leaders to work hard for the victory of the party in the 2014 elections. Naidu would be the next chief minister, he prophesised.But Roja preferred not to speak. Naidu said Rajasekhara Reddy was spreading rumours against the Opposition in a bid to create confusion in their ranks.
But leaders like Roja would not be lured by the chief minister’s `Operation Akarsh’, Naidu asserted.
Interestingly, several Telangana leaders including Nagam Janardhan Reddy, K Harishwar Reddy and M Kishan Reddy skipped the meeting. But seniors like K Srihari and E Dayakar Rao attended the meeting and greeted Goud and Peddi Reddy.