The stage is all set for Vijayawada city Congress president and former Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu to cross over to the YSR Congress Party.
Mr Vishnu is one of the strong leaders of the Congress in the city.
Mr. Vishnu, who was a relatively small functionary in the Congress, shot into the limelight when he was nominated for the highly coveted post of the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri (VGTM) Urban Development Authority chairman owing to his proximity to the former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
The very next election Mr. Vishnu was given Congress ticket for the Vijayawada Central Assembly Constituency.
He defeated Praja Rajyam candidate Vangaveeti Radhakrishna by 800 votes.
Avoided shift
Heavy pressure was brought by his followers to shift to the YSR Congress in 2014, but Mr. Vishnu continued in the Congress because there was little chance of the YSR Congress setting aside active member and former corporator P. Gowtham Reddy.
In a triangular fight among the Congress represented by Mr. Vishnu and YSR Congress represented by Mr. Gowtham Reddy, the Telugu Desam candidate Bonda Umamaheswara Rao won.
Though Mr. Vishnu was defeated in the elections, he was given the coveted City Congress President’s post against stiff competition from the Devineni Rajasekhar group leader Kadiyala Butchibabu.
Recent developments
Some untoward developments in the recent times have pushed him to consider moving out of the Congress, his followers claimed.
Mr. Vishnu’s followers said their leader is all set to move because he got a call from YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
