VIJAYAWADA: At least three senior politicians from the State are likely to join the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) floated by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in Hyderabad on Monday. One among them, former IAS officer Thota Chandrasekhar, is tipped to be appointed as the president of the BRS Andhra Pradesh unit. The other two are also former bureaucrats.
Apart from Chandrasekhar, a close aide of Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, former minister Ravela Kishore Babu and former IRS officer Chintala Parthasarathi are likely to join the BRS. Chandrasekhar unsuccessfully contested from Eluru Lok Sabha constituency on YSRC ticket in 2014 and later joined JSP. He was given Guntur West Assembly seat in 2019 Assembly elections, but lost.
After losing elections, the leader from Kapu community was politically inactive for sometime.Similarly, Kishore Babu was the minister for SC Welfare in N Chandrababu Naidu’s cabinet between 2014-17. A former Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, he joined JSP and then switched loyalties to BJP. He quit BJP a few months ago citing personal reasons.
Parthasarathi also unsuccessfully contested from Anakapalle Lok Sabha seat in 2019 elections on JSP ticket. According to sources, the BRS leadership is in touch with several leaders, who came into politics after quitting or completing government service, from the State. It was also stated that the BRS tried to woo former IPS officer, who worked as joint director of Central Bureau of Investigation VV Lakshminarayana, into its fold.
Lakshminarayana unsuccessfully contested from Visakahapatnam Lok Sabha seat on JSP ticket in 2019. Later, he quit the party. Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivasa Yadav is in consultation with several AP leaders, sources added.