VIJAYAWADA: In what can be seen as an attempt to bring Kapu community leaders in Andhra Pradesh into its fold, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA from Qutbullapur KP Vivekanand reportedly held discussions with TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao and CBI former joint director V V Lakshminarayana in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
While Ganta had been maintaining distance for a long time, the former IPS officer had quit Jana Sena Party after unsuccessfully contesting the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat in 2019 elections. It may be recalled that the BRS, which plans to contest from Andhra Pradesh in its efforts to emerge as a national party in the 2024 elections, had appointed a Kapu leader, former IAS officer, Thota Chandrasekhar as its AP unit chief.
Another Kapu leader Chintala Pardhasaradhy, also a former bureaucrat, joined the BRS. Sources said it was yet another effort by the BRS to bring Kapu leaders together after the recent meeting of BJP senior leader Kanna Lakshminarayana, Ganta with Thota in Hyderabad.
Nothing political: Ex-CBI JD
During the meeting, it was learnt that Thota explained to the leaders about the reasons for K Chandrasekhar Rao to launch BRS and the latter’s plans to make a Kapu leader as a chief minister, if BRS wins in the State.
Vivek’s meeting with Lakshminarayana and Srinivasa Rao assumed significance even as Thota had announced that KCR would attend a massive meeting in Visakhapatnam soon. Lakshminarayana, however, said that there was no political significance to their meeting. He said that they had met Vivekanand at a function in Visakhapatnam and had invited him for breakfast.