After reconciling themselves to the fact that they could in no way stop bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Congress lawmakers from Seemandhra seem to have started making overtures to other parties to secure their political future.
With the ruling party’s electoral prospects appear bleak in the ensuing general polls in their region following its Tdecision, some ministers, MPs and MLAs of the Congress party from Seemandhra are now making no secret of their intent to quit the party and join other parties. Indicating that an exodus of leaders from the ruling Congress to other parties such as TDP and YSRC is in the offing in Seemandhra, Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao on Thursday called on TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, who has been undertaking a fast at AP Bhavan in Delhi in protest against the Centre’s T-decision.
Interestingly, Rao has decided to pay a visit to the TDP chief exactly a day after another Congress MP from Seemandhra, Ananta Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur), had met YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the latter’s residence here and expressed solidarity with the YSRC boss, who was also on a fast. Sambasiva Rao had recently resigned from the Lok Sabha membership and also from the Congress party opposing bifurcation of AP.
Though Rao, after meeting the TDP boss, told reporters that he had called on Naidu only to express solidarity with him, TDP MP M Venugopala Reddy dropped hints that the Guntur MP would soon join the TDP. Speaking to reporters after meeting Naidu, Sambasiva Rao said he had called on Naidu as he was his good friend and was trying to exert pressure on the Centre to address the concerns of the people of Seemandhra. Asked if he is joining the TDP, Rao said he would take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time.
He, however, made it clear that his relationship with Congress has broken. It is no secret that Rayapati has been angry with the Congress high command for several months as he feels that the party leadership has ignored his seniority by not accommodating him in the Union Cabinet and not giving him the chairmanship of TTD Board, which has been his long-cherished dream. Another reason for the Guntur MP’s decision to severe ties with Congress is that he has political rivalry with minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, who hails from the same Guntur district. After meeting the TDP boss, the Guntur MP fired choicest salvos at the AICC leadership saying, “Senior leaders like me are being ignored by the Congress high command. If I contest on Congress ticket, I will lose my deposit at this juncture,” he felt.
Lending support to such views, Congress MP Ananta Venkatarami Reddy on Wednesday called on Jagan indicating that he would be joining the YSRC soon. Another Congress MP, SPY Reddy from Nandyal, has already boarded Jagan’s ship. Former minister P Viswaroop has also announced that he would join the YSRC.