HYDERABAD: Exactly two days after he had submitted a petition, along with APCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy, to the Election Commission urging it to derecognise the TDP for its alleged failure to fulfil its poll promises, Andhra Pradesh Congress heavyweight and former boss of the party unit in the erstwhile united AP, Botcha Satyanarayana, on Friday dropped clear indications that he is all set to board YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s ship.
Strengthening this, YSRC leaders Jyotula Nehru, Vijayasai Reddy and YV Subba Reddy, called on Botcha here and held discussions with him for a while.
Botcha’s possible defection to the YSRC might be a big blow to the Congress that has already been washed away in AP, post-bifurcation.
“Botcha joining the YSRC is finalised. None other than Jagan Reddy has cleared Botcha’s induction into the party. Considering that Botcha is a senior politico and a prominent leader from Kapu community, our party leadership feels that his joining would strengthen the party in north Andhra,” said a YSRC leader. The buzz is that Jagan promised MLC ticket to Botcha and even agreed to give prominence to his family in the Vizianagaram district’s YSRC affairs.
In fact, for several days, there has been talk in the political circles that Botcha would be joining YSRC.
Earlier, Botcha had reportedly tried to join the BJP. But, his efforts did not fructify. Given that Botcha is facing corruption allegations, the BJP leadership reportedly turned down his request.