VISAKHAPATNAM/VIJAYAWADA: In what could be seen as a major jolt to Telugu Desam in Visakhapatnam City, Visakhapatnam South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, along with his two sons, called on Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the latter’s camp office at Tadepalli on Saturday and extended his support to the YSRC government.
His sons Saket and Surya joined the YSRC. Ganesh Kumar of TDP was elected to the Assembly from Visakhapatnam South segment in 2014 and 2019 polls. TDP Visakhapatnam rural president Panchakarla Ramesh Babu quit the party and joined YSRC recently.
TDP will be wiped out from Vizag: Vijayasai
Now, TDP urban president Ganesh Kumar also distanced himself from the party. He is the fourth TDP MLA after Vallabhaneni Vamsi from Krishna, Karanam Balaram from Prakasam and Maddali Giri from Guntur, who distanced from the party, by extending their support to the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
Speaking to mediapersons, Ganesh Kumar hailed Jagan’s decision to make Vizag as executive capital of the State to promote development of North Coastal Andhra.
The MLA said he would strive for the victory of YSRC in the ensuing elections to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. MP V Vijayasai Reddy said the TDP will soon be wiped out from Visakhapatnam with the support of Vasupalli family to the YSRC. He predicted that more TDP leaders from North Coastal Andhra will join the YSRC in the near future attracted by the welfare policies and development schemes being implemented by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who held an online meeting with the party leaders of Visakhapatnam on Saturday evening, condemned the ‘betrayal’ of Ganesh Kumar, yielding to the inducement of the ruling party. He asserted that there will be no loss to the TDP even if one or two leaders quit the party.
The people will punish the ‘betrayers’ in the course of time. Leaders come and go, but the party remains with the unwavering support of people.
The TDP’s biggest asset is its strong cadre base, he said. Asserting that right from the beginning, Visakhapatnam has been a stronghold of TDP, he said the previous regime brought thousands of crores investments to Vizag and created lakhs of job opportunities. Hence, the people elected the TDP in all the four Assembly segments in the Port City in the 2019 elections. The deserters will end up having a political burial ultimately, he said. Describing the desertions from the TDP as an attempt by the ruling party to divert the attention of people from its ‘failures’, he said the YSRC has no moral code or commitment to democratic values.